I need help here zebras. 1st year ref. 18 games under the belt. Learning curve going along nicely. i have video of myself, reading the forum daily, watching other refs,and most of the time actually enjoying myself.About 10% of the coaches officiate the game. I am talking about EVERY call. I believe the term is hollar monkeys. They are relentless and loud. These are games played in quiet gyms and these coaches are obnoxious. I am asking for guidance on the procedure to get them to coach rather than officiate.. Mike

"Coach, if you continue to try to officiate, I'll have to penalize it."

Then follow through.

Unless you like listening to it all game, there is no other way.

"Coach, I have heard you. I'll do the reffing, you do the coaching, and we can all have a good time. Thanks for your help." He keeps chirping, bang him.

Since it is your first year say what you are comfortable saying to let him know you don't want his/her help. Your communication should not bait the coach into more communication that you do not want. What was pointed out last summer by a NBA official is the fact that some officials do not know what to say to coaches. We have all been there and on certain nights are still there. If this "chatter" becomes distracting it is obviously taking away from your concentration which could be disastrous to your success. A "please stop coach" or a T should help eliminate this distraction. A T should be used to make the game better and if you don't have enough experience with coaches to do or say otherwise you should use one (or two!) so you can focus on play-calling. Over time you will block out a lot of the nonsense and get comfortable enough to look a coach in the eyes and say the right thing. What is said depends on too many things to post but you will know.

You will hear older officials say that the T is a cure-all for a lot of issues, but I was uncomfortable issuing T's my first year. And yes, I was uncomfortable putting coaches in their place for fear that they would expose my naivity.

Here's how I dealt/deal with it. Unless the coaches actions are totally objectionable, I allow it. Even if it distracts me, I allow it because I want to get better. I use it to make me mentally tougher and stronger.

Also, practice what you'll say in front of the mirror. I know, you will feel very foolish, but you will quickly learn what you feel comfortable saying and not so comfortable saying.

Last bit of advcie: be yourself.

Official Davism for this: "Coach, let's trade places. You come out here and officiate and I'll go to the bench and act like a jackass."

"Coach, although I can't force you to stop calling the game from the bench I must inform you that if you persist I will assess a technical foul directly to you which will result in you loosing your coaching box priveldges. Do you really want that??"

Something along those lines works well. But if you warn the coach be sure to follow through with the penalty. Also, catch this early in the game. If you've let him get away with it for 3 and a half quarters then the 4th quarter really isn't the best place to start penalizing him.

How about a 3 step approach, starting early that's short and sweet.

"Coach I hear you."

"That's enough coach."

Whack

If they don't understand after the technical, they've got some problems to deal with. This isn't to say you do this if the coach asks reasonable questions or offers constructive commentary, but only if he keeps chirping. Some guys won't stop until they get the T, particularly if it's the first time they've seen you.

I'm with SMEngmann :)

It informs the coach you hear him....it let's him know you don't appreciate it....then it penalizes because he hasn't a clue! :rolleyes:

The process maintains your professionalism too!

Good luck....

wl

I don't like to threaten coaches, just stop sign em and tell them "that's enough coach" after that just whack em.

I don' tlike the line "I ref, you coach" - easy comeback "I will when you start"

Whenever you've heard enough: Stop sign him/her "Coach I've heard enough". If it continues, you have no other choice but to whack him/her.

A simple "Coach,I've heard enough" and a stop sign should work, if not whack him.

The only problem here is that some officials are hesitant to issue the T, for many reasons, even after the stop sign. Some coaches also want to know where the line is and if you give the stop sign, you should only give it once, and then penalize. Coaches don't respect constant warnings, they see it as a sign of weakness and take advantage of it to the point of continually pushing you.

All too common a problem: 1)Stop sign, 2) That's all, 3) I won't hear any more of it, 4)Stay in your box, then 5)well I'm not gonna T him now, there's only a couple minutes left and it won't serve a purpose... You've just given the coach a free pass with this philosophy, and it just perpetuates the behavior. If you're gonna warn, you better be able to actually penalize.

In my pregame speech. "Coaches, everyone legally and properly equipped? Good. OK, we want good sportsmanship all night and that starts on the bench. Coaches, can we count on you to shoe good sportsmanship?"..... I've never had a coach say no.
If (s)he's a holler monkey, stop sign. If (s)he then run the sign - whack! I don't give a lot of T's but when one is needed it's part of the game. Nothing personal. No apologies.

You will? :confused: A "good" T will help your game, but there is no cure-all. It's constant work and personal skills.