u/SmoothCriminal2008

Hello all! Recently I have been noticing very mixed reactions from players in my games on ball and strike calls. Obviously, this is normal, but it’s in a way that after a couple of years of umping just feels weird, anyway. I typically ump 12u-14u games, with the highest level basically being house varsity. I would say my strike zone is the mlb strike zone with a half a ball added to all sides, except the top which I add probably 2. I think this is reasonable for the age I am umping, but I also just don’t feel right “making the zone bigger” because of certain age groups. Now to the story, I have had a lot of pitchers get increasingly mad at calls that I believe are pretty obvious balls. But, I have also had multiple players come up to me to say that I am their favorite ump because I actually make good calls on balls and strikes. Along with this, my brother plays in both the leagues I ump and say that a lot of other umpires have a much bigger strike zone. So, is my zone to small? Or am I just overthinking it. Thank you for reading!