The Downside of Double Whistles

[BDevil15]

Heres my impression of double whistles as a coach.

Scenario A: Double whistle, officials look at each other, one takes charge and makes a call, other official puts his hand down, nods, and administers then next play while "take charge official" reports the foul. I move on.

Scenario B: Double whistle, officials look at each other, then they kinda shrug at each other, they may even have the same call but they don't know and they have a meeting to discuss what happened/whats next. I'm not only irritated but I have to wonder why someone cant just grab a pair and make a call. I don't care what is called normally, but I do care that someone knows what they saw and does so with authority, not because they drew the short straw.

Scenario C: Double whistle, one official indicates a block immediately and other official indicates a charge immediately, they get together and decide one official had a better look and make a call. Again, if you make a call, stand by it. If you call a charge and he calls a block and you did so with such emphasis that you signaled immediately, then stand by it. Id rather see a double foul than have one official talk the other into backing off of whatever they think they clearly saw.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BDevil15

Heres my impression of double whistles as a coach.

Scenario A: Double whistle, officials look at each other, one takes charge and makes a call, other official puts his hand down, nods, and administers then next play while "take charge official" reports the foul. I move on.

Scenario B: Double whistle, officials look at each other, then they kinda shrug at each other, they may even have the same call but they don't know and they have a meeting to discuss what happened/whats next. I'm not only irritated but I have to wonder why someone cant just grab a pair and make a call. I don't care what is called normally, but I do care that someone knows what they saw and does so with authority, not because they drew the short straw.

Scenario C: Double whistle, one official indicates a block immediately and other official indicates a charge immediately, they get together and decide one official had a better look and make a call. Again, if you make a call, stand by it. If you call a charge and he calls a block and you did so with such emphasis that you signaled immediately, then stand by it. Id rather see a double foul than have one official talk the other into backing off of whatever they think they clearly saw.

In B, it may be that there are two different things that happened. They need to figure out which happened first and it is possible that neither can know that without having the discussion.

In C, if one talks the other out of their call, they are not following the rules (NFHS or NCAA-M).

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

In B, it may be that there are two different things that happened. They need to figure out which happened first and it is possible that neither can know that without having the discussion.

"I got a good look at your held ball but I had a holding foul right before the held ball occurred".

[Freddy]

To the extent that perhaps one or two might be interested, here's a PDF of the PowerPoint lesson our association trainer came up with. The perspectives of some of the responders to this thread contributed to some of the points he made.
Totally FYI. Feedback welcome, if any have any on anything.

Correct Link to Double Whistle Lesson PDF

[billyu2]

Originally Posted by Freddy

To the extent that perhaps one or two might be interested, here's a PDF of the PowerPoint lesson our association trainer came up with. The perspectives of some of the responders to this thread contributed to some of the points he made.
Totally FYI. Feedback welcome, if any have any on anything.

Correct Link to Double Whistle Lesson PDF

With all respect to your trainer, who obviously put a ton of work into this, was this entire power point lesson presented at just one meeting?

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by BDevil15

Here's my impression of double whistles as a coach...

Do double whistles, to some coaches, have a sort of "confirmatory" effect? "Well, if they both saw it, it must have happened that way"? Or no? Or is that to general to deserve an answer one way or the other?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Do double whistles, to some coaches, have a sort of "confirmatory" effect? "Well, if they both saw it, it must have happened that way"? Or no?

Some (but not all) coaches are very observant. "Your partner had an open hand up for a violation, while you had your fist up for a foul".

[Mark Padgett]

I think we should all use double whistles.

[Mregor]

Double whistles are not necessarily a bad thing. Just don't give a prelim. I'm in 2-man state. We probably have more than 3-man although it's been so long in 2-man I can't remember anymore.

Point is, you need to discuss how you will handle them and don't prelim right away. I work with regular P so we give up to person who is PCA as a general rule but have exceptions like when 1 official has mad e the last several calls. If we believe we may have different calls, we will ask the other and get the "nod". Either way, pregame how you are going to handle double whistles because they happen and are not a bad thing; it's how they are handled that is important.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Mregor

Double whistles are not necessarily a bad thing. Just don't give a prelim. I'm in 2-man state. We probably have more than 3-man although it's been so long in 2-man I can't remember anymore.



Point is, you need to discuss how you will handle them and don't prelim right away. I work with regular P so we give up to person who is PCA as a general rule but have exceptions like when 1 official has mad e the last several calls. If we believe we may have different calls, we will ask the other and get the "nod". Either way, pregame how you are going to handle double whistles because they happen and are not a bad thing; it's how they are handled that is important.

No traction at all to move to 3-person?

I haven't worked a 2-person game in 3 years now. If they ever went back, I'd retire. 30 years in...any more is gravy.

More double whistles in 2-person.

In 3 I generally like to give the primary official the first crack and hild my whistle an extra beat. If he hits it, I don't. If he doesn't, I come and get it.

[packersowner]

How many coaches or fans would even know (other than the audible sound) or care about a double whistle? As a practitioner, you/we make it an issue, but I can unscientifically promise you that unless coaches, players or fans are astute observers of officials and mechanics, they don't care one bit about this.

Double whistles are only an issue when you have two different calls. To the point that was made earlier, it could be the symptom of an underlying problem. So address the underlying problem.