My first real game tommrow and I nervious as all heck. I know I am not going to sleep tonight haha, so I will probally read my rule book. Any suggestions? Any thing I should do or not do before the game? Any thing is welcome :)

Blow the whistle hard and use your voice.

Listen to every piece of advice your partner gives you.

and above all else HAVE FUN!!!! ;)

THis is your first game, just be normal and natural, use only the approved mechanics. You're younge and have lots of time to polish your game.

Oh ya, one last thing, never talk back to an evaluator, just smile and nod.

Brandan, thinking back to my first game (which was a freshman HS game), don't be afraid to blow your whistle on fouls. You will have a tendency of holding back due to first game jitters and thinking about how you are going to report the foul. Take your time and relax.

Also let your partner know this is your first game. He will help you. Maintain good eye contact with your partner at all times and don't put the ball into play until he/she is ready.

You may also have some double whistles. In those cases, go to your partner to discuss.

Good luck!

Don't be self-critical during the game. Wait until after the game to critique yourself. Be open to your partner's help, but don't think too much while you are out there.

Relax and react.

Have fun.

Good luck.

I have been working hard this summer bringing along some guys that I got into officiating this past season. My main thing that I am having trouble getting them to do is use their voice. There is no worse way to sell a good call than a weak whistle and no voice. Yet, the worst call in the world will be quickly forgotten if you have a strong whistle and a strong voice with it. Don't worry so much about pointing, bird-dogging, or reporting, just use your voice and nobody will know that you didn't point or put up the right numbers with your fingers. On out-of bounds calls, blow the whistle and say "WHITE" or whoever's ball it is, you won't have to point that way everyone will already know, and don't don't don't say 'off-white, blue'...

Make sure you get paid.

I still get nervous before games. Not necessarily a bad thing, it means you care about doing a good job. Hopefully when the ball is tipped, you will be able to focus on the job at hand.

I found some really simple things to be difficult in my first game like remembering which direction the teams were going in. The best piece of advice I have heard is to SLOW DOWN when reporting fouls, look at tour partner before in bounding the ball etc.... Not easy to slow down when you are starting out. Keep in mind, you are going to improve in leaps and bounds in those first few games, so don't be too critical of yourself.

Jay

Don't second guess every call you make. If you think you blew a call, just move on. Do your evaluating after the game by looking back at your overall performance. Ask yourself these questions:

1) did I hustle
2) was I in proper position as much as I could be
3) did I resist the temptation to use make-up calls if I felt I blew a call
4) did I work well with my partner

and most important....

5) did I allow the abilities of the respective teams to determine the outcome of the game

I remember someone at camp saying something about A*$ to the glass, could someone explain that to me?

I'll also add....


Slow down.

Once you do blow the whistle, no one is going anywhere until you indicate why you blew it. No need to hurry the communications (singals, voice, etc.). In fact, hurrying the communications is where easily preventable mistakes are made.

Hustle from spot to spot but take your time once you are there.

"Real"
 

Branden,

How is this your first "real" game and we are in the middle of July? Would you not have that experience sometime in November?

Peace

Nope, Summer League started Monday night down here and will run untill the mid of august.

I think you missed my point.

I realize that you might be working a summer league, but how is it a "real" game unless you are getting all dressed up in the proper uniforms?

A summer league atmosphere is quite different than a regular season game. You might not have a partner that even will switch properly or put the ball in the right place.

By all means hustle, work hard for angles and call the game properly. Just understand that you are more than likely are not going to have the same intensity or expectations of a game when the "real" season starts. So this is the place to make all the mistakes, get all the kinks out when the real season starts.

Peace

...or "White ball!"

The ball is not white.

The ball belongs to white.

Just say, "White!"

White's ball?

Personally, I like to hop up and down on one foot, while pointing over my shoulder and screaming " WHITE, WHITE, WHITE, WHITE, WHITE....."

I think that there's a little NBA in everybody. :D