Patient Whistle

[FrankHtown]

The term "patient whistle" is a good one. I refereed soccer, and the norm there was to put a whistle on a wrist lanyard. Now, this automatically slowed your whistle time, so you could play "advantage" if it was appropriate. Are there any basketball referees that use a wrist lanyard? Or is that "just not done"

[ref18]

In my board, it's just not done. The whistle is on a lanyard that's attached to your shirt, or that goes around your neck.

[JRutledge]

Not only have I never seen one, I have never heard anyone suggest the use of one.

Basketball is a sport where more things are going on in a much smaller area. You have to stop things "right now" basketball than rather take your time. Of course you have to have a patient whistle at times, but you need to also stop things immediately. I know several people that use them in football, but I have never heard that it would be acceptable in basketball. Also in basketball we have to use both hands for signaling at times and having one of those whistles would cause a problem now and then.

Peace

[Back In The Saddle]

One problem I've noticed is that if one partner has a patient whistle, and the other does not, the game begins to feel really one-sided from an oficiating point of view. I've had pretty good luck so far talking to my partners about this and getting more on the same page. But most of the top-rated officials around here have a very quick whistle. And while I feel the patient whistle is the better way to go, I wonder if I'll be able to move up with it.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Back In The Saddle
One problem I've noticed is that if one partner has a patient whistle, and the other does not, the game begins to feel really one-sided from an oficiating point of view. I've had pretty good luck so far talking to my partners about this and getting more on the same page. But most of the top-rated officials around here have a very quick whistle. And while I feel the patient whistle is the better way to go, I wonder if I'll be able to move up with it.

You've got to go with the flow. If on one at the top levels uses a patient whistle, you'd better not, either. But before you start working on that, you might talk to some of them, or an assignor or evaluator. It may be that you're "not seeing the whole play" before you make a decision!

[ref18]

A patient whistle is not a good idea for the game of basketball. The main reason behind this is that the game can progress too far for you to backtrack in the second or two that it takes you to think. If an infraction occurs, the play must be stopped immediately, no question about it.

In other sports like football, they want to you think over your call before you blow the whistle, and that's where I get into trouble, because I've been conditioned to make split-second decisions, and sometimes I will make the wrong call because I don't take enough time to think it over.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by ref18
A patient whistle is not a good idea for the game of basketball. The main reason behind this is that the game can progress too far for you to backtrack in the second or two that it takes you to think. If an infraction occurs, the play must be stopped immediately, no question about it.

In other sports like football, they want to you think over your call before you blow the whistle, and that's where I get into trouble, because I've been conditioned to make split-second decisions, and sometimes I will make the wrong call because I don't take enough time to think it over.

Patient whistle doesn't mean taking time to think it over. It means waiting to see what develops in the play. It means not calling a ticky-tack foul against a team that's behind by 25 when the ball goes into the basket. It means waiting to see if the little bump affects the next step or two. It means not calling a minor hand-check one step before the shot, to see if the contact continues so you can call it a shooting foul. It means being willing to say to a coach, "Yea, it was a late whistle." It means knowing when to wait as described here, and when not to.

[FredFan7]

Some NBA referees like Jess Kersey, Earl Strom, Richie Powers, and Steve Javie don't use a lanyard. They just hold a whistle in their hand or run with it in they mouth. They just have to take the whistle out of their mouths, don't spit it out!

[Jay R]

Originally posted by rainmaker

Patient whistle doesn't mean taking time to think it over. It means waiting to see what develops in the play. It means not calling a ticky-tack foul against a team that's behind by 25 when the ball goes into the basket. It means waiting to see if the little bump affects the next step or two. It means not calling a minor hand-check one step before the shot, to see if the contact continues so you can call it a shooting foul. It means being willing to say to a coach, "Yea, it was a late whistle." It means knowing when to wait as described here, and when not to.

Juulie, I think you nailed it. A patient whistle is not to be taken literally, it is more a philosophy of seeing the result of a play. How often have we seen a bump on a player driving to the basket, we blow the whistle only to realise we're taking away a lay-up. A patient whistle will let you see that it is better to ignore that contact. If you see a travel or someone step out-of-bounds, there is no reason to hesitate blowing the whistle.