Need advice from officials with experience
 

Veteran Officials (or really any of you):
I need your advice on this. I'm a first year official who, as you can see, recently joined the site to try to learn some rules that might not be obvious from just reading the rule book. I'm not by any means an amazing official yet, but I do think that I have a proficient grasp of the rule book and that my on-court judgment and mechanics are just fine. I'm confident with the whistle and I'm always looking to learn. The topic I want to discuss is this: Several times, I have been paired with an official who is also a beginner, but is not very knowledgeable of the rules and is timid to call fouls, violations, etc. They are also usually terrible communicators and no one in the gym, including myself, knows what they have called or whose ball it will be (a huge headache especially in little kid games). I guess I have two questions.

1. Do you think that in elementary and middle school games it is okay to occasionally make a call out of your zone when you know you are working with this type of official?
-I have heard some say that it is okay especially in younger kid games when often times all ten players are gathered in one zone
-I have heard others say that you must always stay in your zone, in order to practice proper mechanics and prepare for varsity level games. Even if it means getting yelled at for several obvious missed calls.

2. What should I say(if anything at all) to this type of official to try to get them to be louder, use better mechanics, and communicate with me better? It is awkward because I am always several years younger than any partner, and don't want to seem condescending, but at the same time these things are necessary for the game to go more smoothly.

Thanks in advance

1. Call the obvious. Mostly stay in your primary area, occasionally call in your secondary area. The calls in your secondary have to be high-certainty.

2. Tell them that they need to communicate their calls to you. State that you aren't watching their area so what may seem obvious to them isn't to you when the whistle blows. You don't need much info, just whose ball it will be or if FTs need to be shot.

Ask them to communicate better as Nevada said. Leave the critiques about mechanics to those more experienced and part of the training process

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

As a 4th year official, I've been on both ends of the spectrum where I went through similar growing pains as a new official and seen the same now that I'm occasionally partnered with new officials.

If you're working with another rookie who is learning and not as strong a communicator as you are, you might need to make a call out of your primary. However, be sure the call you make is one that needs to be called. As an example, it might not be wise to call out of your primary for a marginal travel or violation. A foul where the contact is obvious but your partner misses it or is straight-lined is more something that could be called out of your primary. Also keep in mind that with youth games where the ten players are all massed together, you might be able to extend your off-ball coverage some to help out a partner.

The most important thing, though, is that if you call out of your primary, you must be correct with the call. If there's any doubt about what you see, a no-call is preferable to an incorrect call outside your primary.

Having officiated a handful of varsity games, I will say that while staying in one's primary and trusting your partner is important, sometimes the primary official misses something that needs a whistle--that's where a secondary whistle can be helpful.

Last season, I had a middle school doubleheader with an official who decided to start officiating basketball after doing baseball for a number of years. My biggest issue is that he'd blow his whistle and not signal or verbalize what he called so that everyone knew what he was calling. I did my best at halftime and after the games to remind him to use proper signals to help everyone--especially his partner--to know what he was calling.

In your case, perhaps you could remind your partner to use a strong whistle/voice and proper signals to clearly communicate what's he calling for everyone's benefit--and most importantly, yours.

I've worked with rookies twice this year and I try to come up with 2-3 things they did well to praise them on (to help them develop good habits) and 2-3 things for them to work on (so they can get better). That way, they receive meaningful feedback without being overwhelmed. I appreciated the officials who put up with me as a rookie, so I try to show the same patience and support when I work with rookies.

Finally, welcome to the world of officiating.

Thanks for the advice. The thing is though like I said, sometimes that partner is a 30-40 year old, and not sure it would go over to well for them to hear that from another rookie who is 18

You are correct that at 18 older officials won't take comments from you well.

And as someone who has the perspective of being through almost 30 years let me say this.....as a first year official there's just no way you are able to know what you don't know.

Worry less about partners at this stage and work at being better yourself.

Agree 100%.

As for "zones", which we that primary areas, note that it is about ON-BALL coverage. If the ball is in your primary area, you have on-ball coverage. If the ball is NOT in your primary, you have coverage not just of your area but coverage of anyone not near the ball, even in your partners primary area.

For example, if the ball is in the corner on the lead's side, you, as trail, have coverage of the players in the lane or even just outside the lane on the lead's side. There is no way a lead can cover a play in the corner and play at the blocks at the same time.

As to your second question. Just tell them you couldn't hear them and you'd like to know what they called so you know where you need to go next without looking lost.

1. I'd say for newer officials this is almost always a "no." Knowing when to expand your primary takes time, more than 1 or 2 seasons. If you see a felony that doesn't get called, by all means get it, but the vast majority of calls don't need your help. If fans are yelling at you for missed calls, ignore it. That's going to happen whether you get the calls right or not. If coaches are yelling about missed calls, that needs to be stopped; especially at lower level games with less experienced officials. It's a good chance to work on warning coaches and see what works for you.

2. As others have said, just ask the partner to communicate with you. Don't worry about their mechanics as long as you know what they're calling.