Just wonder how many officials get a chance to see any of their game films thru the course of the year? It seems that in all sports coaches and players watch game film to see their mistakes and work on correcting them. This seems like something we should be doing also! If not why don't we?

Any thoughts!!!

Good question, I had my wife video my first couple of scrimmages this year and it showed me a lot of stuff. Since then she hasnt, but I plan on putting it back in effect soon. Then I will compare the two and see if I have gotten any better. Also, I have noticed that most JV and Varsity games are taped. You could ask for a copy from the AD. I would suggest providing a blank tape. During the taping, I ask my wife to focus on the whole court and when I make a call, zoom in on me when I give my call to the table....of course she sits on the table side if possible.

I buy "envelopes" from the post office, put pre-paid postage on them, self-address it, put a blank tape in it and take it to my games with me when I want a film...hand it to the AD or game management and ask them to copy the game film and drop it in the mail. Most are very happy to do so...sometimes takes a few days longer than you would expect to get it back, but most schools have some sort of AV program and can do this for you...

rockyroad,
How many games do you do this for each year?

Wouldn't this be a very good teaching tool for younger officials?
Does anyone use tapes to teach with?
If not, why dont we?

Okay, Luv2Ref, just remember, you asked. Here's the 20 minute sermon on taping games.

Most important is, DO IT!! as often as possible. Rockyroad's method is the most convenient for you, but if you work JV or below, this isn't going to happen, becuase the school isn't taping.

What you do is find a hungry, co-operative teen-ager, and a manageable camcorder with tripod. Take them both to your game at about 1/2 time of the game before. Help the teen see how to run the camera, let him practice a little and you make some suggestions.

Tell him that what you want is YOU. If he can get YOU plus the ball, great. He should do that as much as possible, but if both won't fit, you want YOU all the time. Have him zoom in sometimes, such as when you are signalling the table, of if he notices something that is goofy or annoying, like a habit of scratching your head or whatever. But the wide angle shots are useful also, and he should get a good balance of both wide and zoom. After the game, buy him a hamburger or whatever on the way home, and pay him $5.

When you watch your tape, you're not going to see much of the fouls and action. Some, but you'll mostly have to work on judgment elsewhere. What you are looking for is court coverage, signals, appearance such as uniform and grooming, and physical fitness. Look for those annoying little things that add up to big loss of credibility, such as a shirt that doesn't fit correctly, or as mentioned above, a habit of scratching your head a lot. When the camera is close enough, look at the look on your face. Do you look irritated? goofy? impatient? angry? pleasant? intent?

You can also sometimes catch a rules interp problem or two. If this happens, stop the tape immediately, dig out your books and get your head straight on that particular situation. This is a great way to get it into your memory correctly.

Also pay close attention to whatever you can hear in your voice and language. Talk too much? Not enough? Sound dizzy, or tired? Impatient?

During the tape write things down that you want to work on in the next two weeks. Prioritize them, and then follow through in the next couple of games. Check back your list and re-prioritize. After a couple of weeks, get another tape and see if the things you were working on improved, or not.

If you don't feel as though you are getting enough out of the tape, ask an official that is ahead of you on the ladder, to look at it and make suggestions.

Four tapes in one season are about equal to two summers worth of camp in the areas you can see. It makes a huge difference!

I had a clinic once where we called a game and they taped it. We then went and viewed the tape with some more experienced officials that pointed out things we could improve on. I think it is very beneficial. Although not too long ago did a game where I knew the guy taping as did the other official (2 man). I asked for a copy of the tape and just being friendly the guy offered a tape to the other official. His reply to the guy was "for me when a game is over it is over".

Our local association bought two video cameras over the summer and we offer video-taping as a service to our officials. We just rotate the cameras around to make sure that everyone who wishes to be video'd gets that opportunity at least once during the season.

Z

Juulie,

Here's the answer to your other question about what to look for when evaluating another official....:)

Went to Coast to Coast and we taped and revied every game we called. We all did at least three games some of us four. This camp is run by NBA guys so they know what they are talking about. They see the cosmetic things that we may miss and they show us how to properly evaluate ourselves via the tape. Best camp I have ever been to. No offense to any of the other camps cause they are great too, but this blows them out of the water. Plus I got to shake Gene Keady's hand.

Geez, that's not a very realistic game experience. Now if you said that Gene Keady screamed at you while turning red and roaming up and down the entire sideline while his assistants tried to keep him from having a stroke, that would be a realistic camp.

Z

Great point, Andy!

Does anyone think game films could also be used to bridge the gap with coaches in some way? Maybe, some sort of discussion about it with head coach when asking for the tape in the right situation.
Also, Zebraman explain a little more how your association used those camera's for the guys. Does another official tape? Does the interpreter evaluate? Do you show the films to the rest of association to analize? We did that for ours and it was unbelievable what fantastic feedback we got. Most of them were my films. Those that were not gave me permission.

Elaboration as requested.
We rotate the cameras around to the different board members and have them tape, so yes it is an official that is taping. The board member that is taping generally puts a few constructive comments on the tape (we bought cameras that had good audio inputs for the express purpose).

We don't show the films to the rest of the assoc... we might do it sometime in a specific learning situation if the taped official didn't mind.

Z