Fun With A Pivot Foot ...

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

...


From where the Trail official is positioned, it is difficult to be sure exactly when the ball was released to start the dribble. Red #22 moves away from the Trail official, who is in a straight-line position. Before ruling any violation, officials need to be 100% sure a violation has been committed. In this play, if you are unsure if the pivot foot was lifted before the start of the dribble, it should be ruled a legal play.

The Trail does a pretty good job getting an angle as Red #5 dribbles the ball toward the opposite sideline. Red #5 picks up his dribble and passes to Red #22. This was an opportunity for the Trail official to position adjust toward the sideline and possibly be in a better position to have an open view between Red #22 and his defender, White #32. Had this adjustment been made, he may have also had a better view of the start of the dribble.

Working the Trail in a Crew of 2 is challenging. To be effective, we need to be active and adjust quickly when opportunities present themselves. There was no chance the pass between Red #5 and Red #22 was going to be intercepted in this play. If/when the Trail recognized Red #22 was uncovered, he could have quickly wrapped back toward the sideline and been in a very good position as Red #22 received the ball. Ruling accurately on plays comes down to proper angles. Therefore, officials need to constantly be working hard to get the best angles available on every play. [/I]

...

I always advise officials working 2-man to work a Center position whenever possible when in the Trail, especially if they are speedy enough to keep pace with fast breaks.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Raymond

... if they are speedy enough to keep pace with fast breaks.

Not me. With an arthritic ankle riddled with bone spurs, and a bad knee with a partially torn meniscus, I have voluntarily self-exiled myself to only subvarsity games, mostly middle school games, and even in those games I have to use experience rather than athleticism to get the best angles.

Would middle coaches rather have forty year veteran slow moving dinosaurs officiating their games, or speedy spanking brand new rookie gazelles officiating their games?

I know what they really want, forty year veteran speedy gazelles, but those guys are working varsity games at night, not middle school games in the mid-afternoon.