Softball
7 Reasons Why Communication With Your Partner Pays Off
The words “requires excellent communication skills” are part of virtually every job description in today’s market, to the point where they’ve become meaningless jargon....
Bean There, Seen That
When it comes to hit batters, softball umpires don’t have to make the exact same decisions as their baseball counterparts. Beanball wars in softball...
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...
Infield Fly Factors
An infield fly situation includes many variables for umpires to take into consideration. The wind or sun affects the calling of the infield fly....
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...
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...
Making Amends After a Blown Call
It’s a terrible feeling. You’ve blown a call. You know it. Your partner may or may not know it. What’s worse, the blown call...
Collision Decision
Collisions on the basepaths are not a routine occurrence in fast-pitch softball, so it is important for umpires to prepare for scenarios that can...
‘In’s’ and Outs
There are two rules that often give umpires pause during a game — infield fly and intentional drops. The rules regarding each are relatively...
All Ball
The NFHS Softball Rules Committee approved a change in the penalty for an illegal pitch starting with the 2018-19 school year. An illegal pitch...
Old Acts, New Rulings
The NCAA has again adjusted its obstruction rule, reduced the illegal pitch penalty, adopted three experimental speed-up rules from last fall and brought back...
Softball Crew Chief Responsibilities and How to Prepare
If you are reading this and you are not a crew chief but have that as one of your goals, congratulations. You are taking...
Four Tips for One-Umpire Mechanics
It’s not news that budgets for athletic programs, especially in recreation and intramural leagues, have had to be tightened. Often the first items trimmed...
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...
Let’s Go Camping
A
s the majority of spring sport seasons never got off the ground, many umpires didn’t have the chance to hone their skills and work...
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...
Trouble Area
The last half of the distance from home plate to first base is one of the biggest trouble areas in softball. To stay on...
6 Tips to Improve Your Plate Performance
Everyone wants to be known as a good plate umpire. When coaches think about preferred and non-preferred lists of umpires for postseason playoffs, they...
Game-Time Decisions
By Rick Woelfel
Watching an NCAA Division I crew at work is akin to attending an umpiring seminar. I was afforded that opportunity in late...
Keep Watch on Baserunners Abandoning Their Base
Webster’s defines abandonment as “to leave or forsake completely; to give up possession or control of or to give up, discontinue or withdraw from.”...
Chasing Higher-Level Games
When I was eight years old, my cousin and I always looked forward to the circus coming to town. The troupe would have a...
Thinking Outside the Box
The NCAA Softball Rules Committee and the Playing Rules Oversight Panel recently approved a significant amount of rule changes for the upcoming 2022 and...
The Eight-Minute Pregame
Arriving to the three-umpire system at various upper levels is the culmination of hard work, preparation and demonstration of the knowledge and skills necessary...
Scrutiny on Player Safety Increasing in Softball
Over the years, the NCAA has done many things to try to protect players and prevent injuries. But I have had a couple of...
