Held ball, followed by timeout
 

I was watching a 7th grade game from the stands a couple weeks ago. Held ball under H's basket. Arrow points other way. V-Coach calls full timeout. I thought to myself at the time..."They are going to forget to switch the arrow."

Teams come out of timeout. I don't recall if T told the player "spot" or gave him the finger wagging to signal he could run the endline or did nothing to indicate either. But, V5 took the ball from the official, V13 runs from the foul line to the other end of the end line, OOB, and receives the pass. And proceeds to throw a baseball pass down the floor for an easy layup. As I predicted, the arrow never got changed and V got the next AP too.

I often see officials signaling to each other at the beginning and end of a timeout if a throw-in should be a spot or "running," so I'm not terribly interested about that aspect. It was a 7th grade game, and those officials are either learning what they should be doing or are past the point where they will ever learn.

I am curious if you have any suggestions on how to catch the AP arrow in that situation. I know some carry an extra whistle. Do you swap it at the time you call the held ball, even before the throw-in? That would have caught this one. But, then, what do you do when you have a TF or something weird coming out of that timeout? You've already changed your "personal arrow" when you shouldn't have. Are you relying on yourself to put the whistle back in the other pocket if that throw-in never completes?

Another question...would you suggest reminding the table coming out of the timeout that it's an AP throw-in and the arrow needs switched?

During/after a time-out, I remind my partners and the table that we will be having an AP throw-in.

If we have something that precludes the AP throw-in, I inform the table we will not be switching the arrow after the throw-in.

Should be basic communications practices that are passed down through training.

If someone is going to use a whistle or whatever (I don't) in their pocket, I would hope they switch it when it is supposed to be legally switched. During otherwise is just going to add to the confusion.

Consistent ...
 

For those of us that carry an extra whistle and use it for held ball/quarter situations, there are different techniques. The most important thing is for such an official to remain consistent with his technique and to have it become a regular habit, an almost unconscious habit.

I swap mine before (not the legally correct time, I've already got enough to do immediately after the throwin) the held ball alternating possession throwin (and at the end of the first half). Obviously, my extra whistle technique wouldn't help me if something weird (technical foul, kick, etc.) happened between my swap and the alternating possession throwin, leaving it up to my game awareness and hopefully good communication with my partner and the table.

If a timeout is called after I've already swapped my whistle, but before the throwin, I hold the ball in such a manner (right, left, lane side, not lane side) to remind me of what type of throwin and which way we're going. I also visually communicate such to my partner during the timeout.

Repetition, consistency, and redundancy are the keys.

Without good game awareness and good communication, "tricks" are just "crutches", and may not be infallible.

Every time I've noticed an official using this technique, they are almost always switching it shortly after they confirm the arrow at the table and point in that direction...before the AP throw-in completes.

Brass In Pocket (The Pretenders, 1979) ...
 

That's me. Wrong by rule, but it (usually) works for me.

100% of the post-arthritis middle school games that I work don't have an arrow at the table.

I know that we can use a water bottle, or a pencil, or a folded paper, at the table, but then we would have to train the table crew, and about half of the table crews are middle school students.

I don't use that technique. Instead, I remember who won the jump ball, and track possessions starting with the jump ball loser.

Misty Water Colored Memories (The Way We Were, Barbra Streisand, 1974) …
 

It's great that you have such a great memory. I don't. You must not work a lot of girls middle school games.

Officials should be in tune to the game they are working, not relying on something that requires them to do something and forget they did not change. I have seen many officials not switch and add more confusion as stated because they are worried about what whistle their pocket is in. You should know the circumstances the last time you called a held ball, just like you know the circumstances you called your last few fouls. Just an opinion.

Peace

So notice whether they've changed the arrow / moved the water bottle after each AP throw in. If they haven't remind them the next time you run by the table. The arrow will be right *and* you'll better remember which way it's supposed to point.

Redundancy ...
 

Agree.

Redundancy. Whistle, game awareness, arrow at the table, and arrow on the scoreboard (not legally used). With definite game awareness (memory) trumping all.

Not The Kid's Table ...
 

Have to often do this with trained paid adults at the table for some varsity games.

Extra Layer Of Redundancy ...
 

Officials just as easily can forget the last alternating possession situation as they can forget their whistle swap. Whistle just adds an extra layer of redundancy.

And once in a pocket, the whistle (and the arrow once changed) doesn't fade over time, or get distracted by other matters.

The arrow is as much a crutch as the whistle, the difference is that the arrow is a crutch by rule, the whistle is an optional crutch.

Definitely better than having a bulge in your pocket and then all the single moms are wondering "is that your whistle or are you just happy to see me?"

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Ancient Times ...
 

Nice post Raymond.

In ancient times, before the alternating possession arrow was invented, and before the pea-less Fox-40 whistle was invented, we used to carry an extra whistle (Acme Thunderer or Shield Trumpeter) in case the pea got stuck, or fell apart.

The cool guys that didn't use a lanyard (many in ancient times) had the extra whistle in case their whistle was spit out and stepped on.

Am I right Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.?

Post of the week nominee.


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Count me in the camp of using my “pocket arrow” and switching it as soon as the call is made. In that moment, my memory is fresh enough to know I’m giving the ball to the correct team, and in the unusual situation that the arrow is postponed, the mere fact that this is unusual is enough to remind me to switch it back. Never had a problem with this.

In games with a good arrow display where the table demonstrates competence, I’ll usually stop using my pocket whistle and convert to just making sure the arrow is switched after timeouts or the beginnings of periods. When it doesn’t, I address it first dead ball and/or when I run by.


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If I have a table that appears to be on the ball, I'll give a reminder held ball signal before pointing in the direction of the throw-in coming out of the time out.


If it's a table that's more inexperienced - especially at a lower level game (namely subvarsity, middle school, or CYO) - I've been known to remind them that the throw in following the time out is for a held ball and we need to switch the arrow as appropriate.

Simple ...
 

Good technique. Nice and simple.

I remind the table that we still have the arrow on such situations regardless of the experience of the table. I may phrase it differently, but I always do it. We're in a timeout and it easy to do to prevent any issue so why not do it?

When The Ball Is Dead, We Must Be Alive ...
 

Thanks to Stat-Man and Camron Rust for getting us back to one of the important points of the original post, the possibility of something distracting the officials and/or the table over thirty or sixty seconds that the call was a held ball, the need to "officially" change the table arrow after the throwin after the timeout, and something to be on the alert for.

Had an article published a few years ago, When The Ball Is Dead, We Must Be Alive. Unfortunately, I failed to cover this held ball/timeout situation.

https://forum.officiating.com/basket...ml#post1025072