"Don't get too wide," Ange said. "If you're starting to feel a groin pull, you're too wide."

Umpires Ange and Scoot Ciallella, of the Cooperstown Dreams Park 2004 Umpires Program, taught the finer points of their craft to more than a dozen Hawai'i umpires at a recent clinic at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

Ange and Ciallella rolled through the four-hour clinic with insight gathered from a combined 45 years in umpiring from youth to professional baseball.

It was the first time the Cooperstown Dreams Park Umpires Program hosted a clinic in Hawai'i. The New York-based program is considered a training ground for the most devoted umpires in the country, according to the organization's Web site.

"The guys who come to clinics, who are willing to drive a distance or spend their money, these are the guys who want to improve," said the 36-year-old Ange.

One tip Ange stressed at the clinic was the importance of an umpire's attire. He said an umpire who takes pride in his appearance also takes pride in his game.

"It's about perception," Ange said. "When you see a guy who is sloppy come out on the field, and he looks like he doesn't care, he's a target. And he deserves it."

Ange said it takes a special person to be an umpire. Good umpires enjoy being part of the game and can handle verbal abuse.

"You've got to have thick skin," Ange said. "If you get offended easily, or you're timid or shy, that's probably not the right profession for you. You have to be a little cocky, but not arrogant. You have to be confident."

Ciallella, 53, emphasized that there's always room for improvement for umpires, even for veterans who claim to have seen it all.

"You're never as good as you think you are," Ciallella said. "And there's always somebody better than you."

One of the most helpful tips at the clinic was the importance of the words "play it!" when a batted ball bounces off home plate and causes confusion.

"A lot of times, the ball will hit the plate and the catcher will pick up the ball," said Hawai'i umpire Richard Yoshida, 52, who has 12 years of umpiring experience in baseball and softball. "Sometimes the batter doesn't take off, or the catcher doesn't know what to do with it."

If the umpire shouts "play it!" there should be no confusion, and the play should unfold with the batter running to first base and the catcher throwing to first, Yoshida said.

Another tip that Hawai'i umpires learned at the clinic was how to avoid confrontations. The best way to avoid confrontations, Ciallella said, is to be in the correct position to make the right call, and to "sell" close plays with confident verbal and hand signals.

"Get into position and call what you want," said Glenn Zukeran, 68, a Hawai'i umpire with 25 years of experience in baseball and softball. "Don't hesitate."

Hawai'i umpire Clif Yaguchi, 66, said the clinic was beneficial to the younger umpires who don't have much formal training and "train on the job."

"It's unfortunate that they don't have any formal organization (in Hawai'i)," said Yaguchi, who has more than 25 years in baseball and softball umpiring experience. "... there should be a formal training organization, where guys can be given instruction and critiques, so that the level of umpires can rise. Right now it's hit or miss."