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Originally Posted by jmaellis
New ump here .. first year .. and before today a grand total of 4 games.
Mid-season tournament is this weekend. Got assigned to two 8U games each day and was very happy with that  . Apparently the 8U UIC had a bunch of umps bail on him at the last minute  . So my 2 games on Saturday turned into 6 and my 2 on Sunday turned into 4  . My 16 year old daughter was also called in to do 3 games. After my 4th consecutive game I was about to fall over so she rescued me and did my 5th game so I could catch a break before my 6th.
So, it's Saturday night. My heels hurt, my knees hurt, my thighs hurt, I got hit in the nads .. so my (you know whats) hurt. I'm sun burnt .. bad. It was a beautiful day, high around 85 degrees, and even though I drank water all day I still came home dehydrated .... and hungry, but didn't really feel like eating much. As I type this I'm starting to nod .............................. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzz. |
When you say 8/under, jmaellis, I assume you're talking about coach/pitch. If I have no partner when I umpire for coach/pitch I find in most situations it's a lot better to stand a few feet into foul territory about half-way between 1st base and home-plate instead of staying close to home-plate. Most plays come to 1st in coach-pitch so I'm already very close to position and also have a good angle to the circle and the half-way lines. Less running around to move into position is more friendly to feet, knees, legs.
My biggest problem was my legs would get weak about halfway through a 12/under game as PU. Some of the kids are short and it created a lot of stress on my knees and legs when I had to get low for those shorter kids. I learned from this forum to open up my stance wider and keep my back upright. It took a lot of strain off my knees and the area just above my knees so my legs didn't get weak as the game moved on. Have a good season! ..Al