Know When to Use the ‘Sell’
As novice or veteran umpires, we all look forward to the exciting catch, tag or play at the plate that has us standing in...
Still Work to Be Done When There’s a Break in Play
The referees accept the coach’s or captain’s request for timeout and blow the whistle, starting the timeout procedure. Both teams usually move to the benches for a quick...
Tips for When You Struggle on the Bases
What do you do when you’re struggling on the bases? We’re all going to have bang-bang plays where we do everything right but freeze-frame...
Ball-Watching Afflicts Veterans and Newer Officials Alike
Two huge mistakes that officials can make are ball-watching and officiating air. The former means watching the runner to the exclusion of what’s happening around him. The latter means focusing...
Watch The Hands, Please
"Ariddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
While Winston Churchill certainly wasn’t describing the actions in a softball game when he made this famous...
The Foundation of a Two-Person Crew
Interested in working a fast paced game where things are happening quickly, requiring you to stay completely focused? Then let’s partner together as a two-person crew for a...
Shorten Your Learning Curve
As a young or newer referee works to master the art of officiating, she or he soon finds out that, while the rules are...
Eight Habits to Improve Your Play Positioning
Does your association have “good umpires”? Certainly it does. But are there a few umpires acknowledged to be better than the rest of the...
How to Read a Game
Once a referee reaches the point where he/she knows the Laws of the Game well and has learned effective mechanics, what comes next to improve his/her game and advance...
Judgment Necessary at Line of Scrimmage
Judgments are a large part of football officiating. All rules require some degree of judgment. Perhaps the simplest application is determining whether a team has too many players on...
When Two Umpires Converge on the Same Base
Many of us who have been umpiring for a number of years have seen the situation in which one umpire is dutifully making his...
‘Feel It’ at First Base
While extra education at camp is invaluable for umpires who are dedicated to working on their craft and/or looking to advance to a higher...
Tactical Restart Response
Restart management is difficult enough without considering the various ways that defenders could seek to play psychological tricks on both their opponents and the referee. Given that defenders are...
They’re Counting on It
One of the most important jobs for softball umpires is game management. And one of the most overlooked aspects of game management is giving...
Pick the Proper Protocol with Pitchers
Every umpire will encounter pitchers who aren’t happy with him or her. I had a generous strike zone, but even so a pitcher would...
Yawner? Blowout? Guess Again
Iremember sitting at the breakfast table on the morning of a late-season game between two cellar-dwellers. One official, a garrulous person whose normal speaking...
Behavior Battles
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chieving excellence takes knowing what the referee’s powers are and, more importantly, when and how best to use each power to successfully manage a...
No Time Off
Officials often wonder what higher-level officials are thinking between points while up on the referee stand.
What is going through the minds of officials as...
What’s Your Angle?
Although most umpires would prefer working in crews of three or four, the two-umpire system, if used properly, actually provides for good coverage in...
Step-By-Step Focus
The pause, read and react technique has been used for many years. Some associations call that process, wait, interpret, choose. Others coin it, read,...
Unexpected Calls Require Strong Voice, Signals
We are all taught early in our umpire training that some plays will occur that need to be sold harder than others. The type...
Loose Ball, Tight Talk
Arequirement on the list of items that should be discussed during a crew’s pregame meeting is how everyone will handle information related to a...
A Helping Hand With Flaming Fans
An official I know was having a tough night in one of the rural barns around here. The fans were braying, the coaches were...
Think A-Head
Athletes in many sports that involve contact, either against opponents, teammates or with the ground/floor, are susceptible to concussions, a brain injury that interferes...