Preliminary Signals – What Happens Next? ...

[BillyMac]

At my age (septuagenarian with forty-five years of basketball officiating experience), and with severe arthritis in my right foot, I now almost exclusively work middle school games.

In such games I usually have younger, less experienced partners who are on their way up the ladder.

A problem that I see all the time is a lack of good signals, especially good preliminary signals.

Below is a first draft of a short article that I intend to submit to IAABO Sportorials magazine for possible publication.

Constructive comments from the experts on the Official Forum would be greatly appreciated.

Preliminary Signals – What Happens Next?

"Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity." (Nat Turner, 1831)

"Communication is paramount. You can’t be a good team without it." (Doc Rivers, 2008)

If you're a basketball official who has "been around the block a few times", how often has this scenerio happened to you? Your partner sounds their whistle, and you're left to wonder, "What happens next?”.

"Do I initiate a switch? Do I line up players for free throws? Do I prepare players for a throwin? Which way are we going after an out of bounds violation?"

Signaling is an essential aspect of basketball officiating. Basketball officials work together as a cohesive team, not as individuals. Communication between officials, including non-verbal signals, is essential for good teamwork. Good signals create good teamwork, and good teamwork results in a well officiated game.

Basketball officials use signals to communicate with players, coaches, table personnel, fans, and partners. The most important use of signals between partners is to communicate to each other, “What happens next?”.

Whenever an official sounds their whistle, an accompanying simultaneous signal is required. A signal to stop the clock, which does more than just stop the clock, must be displayed prior to signaling a specific type of foul, violation, held ball, or timeout.

An open hand signal to stop the clock tells the non-calling official that the whistle was sounded for a violation, a held ball, or a timeout, likely resulting in a throwin from a designated spot. Subsequent to an out of bounds violation, the calling official must properly signal both the direction of play and the designated throwin spot.

A closed fist signal to stop the clock tells the non-calling official that the whistle was sounded for a foul, and knowing that, the non-calling official knows that a switch is imminent and that the non-calling official should be ready to initiate a switch.

After sounding a whistle for a foul, it imperative that the calling official follows up the signal to stop the clock with a clear preliminary signal. Clear preliminary signals after a foul let the non-calling official know what is about to happen next.

For fouls that will not result in subsequent free throws, the calling official must designate an out of bounds spot before leaving the area. As the calling official reports the foul to the table, the non-calling official, after initiating a switch, can prepare the players for what is to follow, a throwin from a designated spot.

For fouls that will result in subsequent free throws, the calling official must signal whether, or not, if applicable, to score the goal and indicate the number of free throws. Clear preliminary signals by the calling official will allow the non-calling official to communicate to calling official if a ball went in the basket if applicable, to identify a free throw shooter, and then to initiate a switch. As the calling official reports a foul to the table, the non-calling official can prepare the players for what is to follow by lining up the players for free throws and identifying the free throw shooter.

Failure to give clear signals can create confusion between the calling official and the non-calling official, resulting in a similar situation as described in the famous quote from the classic 1967 Paul Newman movie “Cool Hand Luke”, "What we've got here is failure to communicate".