Written by Thomas A. Baird
Article provided courtesy of PONY Baseball and Softball

As we umpires prepare for the upcoming season there are many things that we could cover.  Having looked back over the things that I have talked about previously on umpiring, the one thing that I would stress in this article is to work on one aspect of your umpiring to improve upon this year.  This could be many different things for different people.  It could be your strike zone, the way that you call balls and strikes.  You could work on your base mechanics, the way that you make safe and out calls at first base.  It could be your positioning in the middle of the infield in the two different slots.  It could be the focus that you have during the game, what your thinking about between pitches, or what your going over in your mind between innings. 

How do you hustle on the field once the game has started, how do you handle players during the game?  Do you talk non-stop to the players and coaches on the field?  How do you conduct yourself during the pre-game meeting at Home Plate with the managers?  What have you done during the off season to take a look at your uniforms and equipment that you will be using during the upcoming season.  Have you
cleaned or repaired any equipment that you might use?  Have you ordered any new uniforms, hats or anything else?

What types of things have you done in the off-season to improve your knowledge of the game.  Have you attended any type of umpiring clinics in your area or state?  Have you pulled out your rule book and gone over it.  Has your local league or association had any meetings during the off season.  Have you picked up and watched any of the umpiring videos that are out there.  Have you gone to your local library and picked any books related to umpiring?  Have you tapped the Internet and all resources on umpiring to help you become better.

Have you prepared yourself physically to umpire for the new season?  Are their any pre-season things that you do to get ready for the start of the season.  I realize that I have touched many different aspects of the game of umpiring baseball.  My main purpose is to get you to start thinking about the season.  Go back over this article and pick out a couple of things that you personally think could use a little more work to make you a better umpire.  Work on these things through out the course of your season.  If you have questions about how things should be done in certain situations do what I have always suggested "tal k to older more experienced umpires in your area".

If any of you that read this and have a certain area of umpiring that you would like to see an article written on feel free to contact me.  Also as I have said in the past if you have an umpiring question I would be glad to give it a shot and give you my answer on how I would handle it.  Any suggestions or comments can be sent to me at:  baycityump@yahoo.com