Bad game last tuesday

[Rich]

Contrary to popular belief, a big strike zone does not yield a better or quicker game. Not always.

I umpire an adult league with some pretty good pitching. Wood bat. Calling a big strike zone does not move the game along -- pitchers are good enough to throw the ball where they need to, so calling a normal strikezone forces them to put the ball on the plate. More balls get hit. More grounders and popups and fewer 8 pitch batters. I've worked 9 innings in 1:30 in this league, although 2 hours is about the norm.

With kids, expand the zone at bit in and out, sure, but don't ever put yourself in a position where you're letting the coaches tell you how to call a game. If you are calling pitches that bounced strikes and you don't know about it, your timing is way too fast and you need to slow down and relax a bit back there.