Stuff creeping into my game

[Adam]

Originally posted by MPLAHE
I was wondering as a relatively new referee, when the ball goes out of bounds, I always stick my hand up first to stop the clock, then point in the direction of the ball. Most referees I work with just point without first raising their hand. Is one method more proper than the other? How many of you just point?

I've caught myself doing this lately. I know in Iowa they mentioned this in a recent memo to officials, pointing out that it's the women's NCAA mechanic, and that the proper NFHS mechanic is to raise the hand to stop the clock. I'm trying to get back to the proper way (I'll never fix it if I don't do any more games).
I've also caught myself using my finger instead of pointing with the whole hand. Bad bad bad.