Quote:
Originally Posted by mbyron
For a jumpy new official, remember that on the floor distraction is part of the problem. If an experienced partner is coming to him with 9 things to work on during every dead ball, that's only going to make things worse.
BBR's suggestions are good for homework. On the floor, try to identify 2 or 3 things for him to work on right now, this game, and don't mention the rest. If every partner he has for the season does that, he'll be a lot better after just one season.
With a jumpy rookie, you will have to watch the entire floor. But slow your whistle way down: give him an extra second or two to catch what's in his area. For the sake of the game, though, if he doesn't get it, then you should. Make sure that he knows you're trying to help him by doing this. Doing so will also help keep the coaches off his back (they don't care who makes the call, as long as someone does).
When he gets a borderline or better call right, make sure he knows it. Positive reinforcement is great for confidence building. Make a big deal of his correct calls, and ignore incorrect ones on the floor unless they're too bad to let stand (in which case, give him what you've got and ask him if he'd like to change the call -- but let him do that).
Remember that experienced officials make mistakes too. Treat him with respect, and make sure that the coaches do as well. He might not be cut out for officiating, but you can't know that in advance.
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I agree wholeheartedly with the concept of information overload, in these situations. I have "shadowed" new officials who are on the court for the first time for the past 12 - 14 years or so.
The biggest problem the newbies face is TOO MUCH to think about during the game. Mechanics (everything from how to get the ball in play on a throw-in to counts to starting the clock to stopping the clock for a foul to stopping the clock for a violation to stopping the clock for a held ball to calling fouls and calling violations, etc.), the rules (oh, yeah, those things -- and they THOUGHT they knew them until they take the class), positioning and communicating with your partner are all things that need to be learned. And, oh, by the way, the newbie is accustomed to being a spectator NOT PART OF THE PLAY and therefore they are WATCHING the game forgetting that they have a specific role IN THE GAME.
Since 95% of the coaches and spectators do not know most of the mechanics, primary areas, etc., I have encouraged the newbies to watch for violations and fouls and NOT worry about the mechanics of calling them, initially. Just to slow them down, I have them make eye contact with their partners on each throw-in following a foul/violation, but this is the only mechanic that they focus on, initially. Not worrying about stopping the clock with an open hand in the air or an open fist in the air (the timer is stopping on the sound of the whistle anyway) allows the newbies to focus SOLELY on getting the calls right. This is most important to the coaches, players and spectators, anyway.
Once they get somewhat proficient at recognizing fouls/violations, we work on the proper mechanics of each of these items.
This method has evolved over the years. Orginally, we tried to corrrect everything as we saw it ("make eye contact with your partner", "point to the spot", "hand the ball with your inside hand", "get your hand up", "get the count going", "chop for time", "get a count started", etc., etc.). I found that by the end of the session (usually about one quarter's worth of time), the newbie had been running up and down the floor, but had called NO FOULS and NO VIOLATIONS.
As MByron suggests, give the newbie one to three things to work on -- if missing obvious fouls/violations is happening, start there.
In the meantime, you have to call the obvious outside of your area if you see it. You still have your primary, but in a girls middle school game, you can usually easily "cheat" a look into your partners area to call the obvious.