Quote:
Originally Posted by fiasco
It's not a load of BS, but thanks for playing our game.
It's a habit that can be cured by learning how to trust your partner. As the ball transitions from your area to his/her area, learn to think "my partner's got this. I'm going to watch off ball."
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I agree that "not trusting your partner" isn't the cause of ball-watching for most new officials, and, at least the way it was worded in your post, came across as scolding.
Most people who watch a ballgame watch the ball. It's where the action is for most. When you move from observer to official, the natural tendency is to continue to want to know where the ball is. It's not that the newbie doesn't trust his partner, it's that he simply hasn't trained himself
not to watch where the ball is.
Ball watching may be a symptom of not trusting your partner. But it's also a symptom of not knowing what to look for, where an official's primary may be, lack of focus, lack of action away from the ball, boredom, or a host of other causes. It many times has
nothing to do with trust.