Game Awareness

[Luv4Asian8]

I know that this may be a weird question, but since you all have helped, maybe you can help on this one too! How can I increase my game awareness? I've just gotten better at looking at table for subs; but sometimes I forget about the shot clock or that sort of thing. Any suggestions?

[Hawks Coach]

You can't fix everything at once. Apparently you have now fixed your lack of awarenes of subs, at least to a degree that you have noticed and feel comfortable with. You can choose the next "thing" you want to work on.

I deal with this issue all the time. You watch a basketball team and they do a million things wrong. In what order do you fix things? If you try to fix it all, you fix nothing. So each game, you have a couple of points that you try to focus on. If they are really important and hard to get right away, my team may need to focus on them for several games and try to guage improvement from game to game until we get to an acceptable level of performance and move to other priorities.

Also, after you have improved in an area and start to work on other things, continue to check yourself that you are maintaining your focus in the areas that you have mastered. Don't sub one focus for another and fail to stay good at what you were already good at.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Luv4Asian8
I know that this may be a weird question, but since you all have helped, maybe you can help on this one too! How can I increase my game awareness? I've just gotten better at looking at table for subs; but sometimes I forget about the shot clock or that sort of thing. Any suggestions?

At every dead ball look at the game clock, shot clock, table and your partner. Train yourself to do this without fail. Take a snapshot of the clocks and remember what they said, one fine day you will need this info. If there's not a lot going on in your area sneak a peak at the clocks. Remember what you saw. Take a look at the clock after every made basket. Remember what you saw.

[JRutledge]

No real formula, just get experience.

I think after you learn the rules pretty well. Then you spend half your time trying to figure out the mechanics and where to stand and when to stand. Then you then develop your skills with dealing with conflict and dealing with players and coaches. Then there comes a time when you just start to really officiate the game. You notice who has been getting calls on them. Who are the shooters, who are the blockers, what offense and defense is being run. When you get all that down, then you can really officiate. I think for me in the past 2 or 3 years I have been what I call on "autopilot." I do not worry about the little things nearly as much as I used to. I now concentrate on the many other things in the game. It took hard work, going to a lot of camps, talking basketball on this board and with many other officials(), read as much as you can from NASO or even here and many other things it would take some time to translate. But you cannot just flip a switch and it is there. Because when you move up as well, you feel like a rookie until you have been there awhile. This is my 3rd year at the college level, and I am just starting to feel like I belong or understand what I am doing. But if I do a HS game, I am in my element. It just takes time and patients. This was the first year in my career that I was not really nerveous before my first game of the year. Now even big games are just another game. It just takes time to feel that way. And when you get to that point, you will know. You just will know.

Peace

[zebraman]

As Rut said, there is no substitute for experience.

That being said, try to work on one new "awareness thing" at each game.

Make a goal to keep an eye on the bench decorum.... or make a goal to check the clock(s), table area and partner at each whistle.... or try to note when you hit the 6th (or 9th) team foul so you know that you are shooting on the next opponent's foul (player control excluded) without having to stare up at the clock.

One thing at a time..... you'll get there.

Z

[davidw]

keeping a jouranl of sorts will help you in keeping track of what you want to work on for your current game, what you've worked on in past games and plan for where you need to go with future games. Gives you something to keep organized and hopefully growing as an official a bit quicker than if you just do it haphazardly.

[ref18]

Always know how how close each team is to the bonus and how many time outs each team has left.

[Snake~eyes]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
You can't fix everything at once.

This is an excellent point. Everytime no matter what sport I'm doing when I step on the field/court I have one specific thing to work on during the game. Fix one thing at a time.

[SMEngmann]

This is one thing that adult rec ball can help you with as well. Generally, the table personnel at these games aren't too reliable and it forces you to take care of things like the shot clock and the game clock. Doing some adult rec games over the summer has helped dramatically increase my game awareness during the HS year this season.

[Jay R]

Sme good points.

I also use a journal. I find good to write down the good, the bad and the ugly of a game. I review those notes periodically. I use this as a way of working on specific parts of my game.

Keeping track of team fouls is important. It's always impressive to see an official call a foul and know if a team is in bonus or not. One of the best officials in our zone is always on top of this.

I always check the shot clock on every whistle. Last Sunday, I noticed a reset of the shot clock after a blocked shot out of bounds. I asked one of my partners if he knew how much time was left on the shot clock. He was not sure. The other partner comes in and says the ball was inbounded with a 3:32 left on the game clock. We did the math and reset the shot clock. I was impressed.

[DJ]

Slow down and try to set a good officiating pace. If you watch some of the better officials they have a very good pace to their officiating. If you slow down you have time to check some of the things mentioned in other posts. Less experience officials have a tendency to "pick up the pace" as a game gets in an up tempo mode or if things are getting a little hectic at the end of a hard fought contest. Keep a nice smooth tempo and this will help with your concentration in tight situations and give you time to think on the run.

[RookieDude]

Originally posted by Dan_ref
sneak a peak at the clocks.

A Veteran once told me:

when he was first starting out officiating, he was told by his assignor that he was watching/looking at the clock too much. The assignor told him it didn't look good...as if he was checking out the score all the time.

Originally posted by zebraman
without having to stare up at the clock.

...so know what the clock says...but, as these two fine officials say...Don't stare but sneak a peak.

RD

[SHellmueller]

DJ, excellent point on tempo...I would take it a step further. I use the same advice I got from a pitching coach more than once about controlling the tempo. Basically, when things are going well, keep an even, steady pace, but if things begin to fall apart, slow down.

Another thing to remember is to commuincate with your partner on what it is that you might be weak on, and trying to improve. For example, I have a problem with signalling OOB "on the run" sometimes, rather than stopping. The other night, I told my partner I was going to really try to work on that, and he helped remind and critique me at time-outs, quarter breaks, etc. My partner in turn has a problem getting the shooter's number on a foul, so I didn't let him go to the table without giving me the number first.

[garote]

For me Game awareness start at home with the newspaper. I try and keep up to date on how the teams are playing.

I also look for the shooters, ball handlers during the 15 prior to the start.

All this so I have an Idea of how the game will probably be played.