Home Position for Trail
 

An unannounced change included in the new NFHS Officials Manual:
Was: "Trail's home position is at or below the 28-foot line..."
Now: "Trail's home position is at or below the top of the 3-point arc extended..."

For those who naturally work deep as Trail anyway, this might be nothing earth-shaking. For those who hang around just over the division line, this has got to be a wakeup call to get in the game and get engaged in the frontcourt.

You whose states' approved mechanics are NFHS mechanics, do you have any thoughts on this change?

I guess the thought is that Trails weren't getting low enough when the 28-foot line was the starting position, so maybe by making the starting position lower, then Trails may actually get to the 28-foot line. Still have to have accountability for it, though, which in my state is next to nonexistent. I've given low peer ratings to officials who don't get to the 28-foot line, but most people don't.

Old fat guys will still be old fat guys. Lazy officials will still be lazy officials.

I wish they would have added "on the sideline" to the home position. Don't need Trails who are way out onto the court.

It's really a mindset thing for some officials. Getting beat back occasionally is no big deal.

I wasn't aware that I was playing too deep until a more experienced official observed me at my request and advised me to move farther into the front court when play dictates. I was at the 28' line or a bit in front, but had not really had anyone tell me that it's more effective to play farther up when the ball moves. I know it's anecdotal data, but at least in my own case that's why I was playing too deep. I would bet that's true for a lot of guys like myself who aren't working with really experienced crews every night. Are some guys lazy? Of course. I know that ignorance is no excuse, because that stuff can easily be taught at camps but those are some thoughts I had on this from my own experience. I'm glad to see fed move that imaginary trail line farther into the front court so guys can get into better position when doing what is prescribed by the manual.

I didn't mean to insult anyone with my comment; my intention was to say that, in my personal experience, most of the officials I work with who don't position themselves properly at Trail are old, overweight, lazy, or some combination thereof. I'm sure some are just ignorant, but a lot of them could tell you what the Manual says is the starting position for Trail. However, they seldom get to it.

I can't speak for others, but I wasn't insulted. Just wanted to provide another viewpoint on the reason for positioning for some guys. Your reason is probably very accurate for a lotof those that sit at 28' or above.

Are you speaking of a new NFHS officials manual? Where can I find that?

National Federation of State High School Associations and click on Basketball

Ball lines, right BNR? [emoji6] Stay outside of 'em.

I love this wording change. Absolutely love it. Have been successfully employing this T position since a couple of D3 Supercamps a few years back. Works great. Keeps you engaged, and when you need to slide down to C, it's maybe a step and a half tops....so you're less likely to be moving when you need to be seeing a play. A stationary judgement is always preferred.




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It also helps in discouraging ball-watching as the ball goes away from the Trail to the Center's primary.

Agreed. For some it may be something else, but I think for a lot of officials it's a fear of getting beat. Once I quit being afraid of that, it got easier to drop down.