Direction of Play

I need some advice from you seasoned officials out there. I am relatively new, with about 50 games under my belt this year, yet still, on occasion, struggle with remembering the direction the teams are going when making quick out of bounds calls. I remember a post here when I first started where others mentioned this as well. Early on, I would yell, "off blue, red ball" if confused without pointing in the direction of play, but I know this is not proper and can be confusing for the younger players.

I have gotten better with experience, yet on occasion still struggle, especially if I've done several back to back games and lose a little concentration. I will glance at the benches briefly to remind myself before making the call (the proper technique of raising your hand to signal to stop the clock gives you that extra time). Anyone have any pointers in this area? Other than that, I feel very comfortable on the floor and feel good about my overall technique and rules knowledge. My confidence will grow if I can improve in this area.

thanks

[Dan_ref]

Yeah, it's nothing more than concentrating on the game at hand. For the rookies there is so much to think about it's easy to see how team direction gets confused Even I ( ) will now & then point in the wrong direction, especially during lower level games that are less than close.

Using the benches as a guide is a good idea, just make sure you get the teams started in the right direction. Another great idea given to me when I was a rook is to just shout the team color without pointing. The teams know which way they're going, give them a few seconds to move in the direction you're going then calmy point. Always works!

[Mark Padgett]

Originally posted by MPLAHE
Anyone have any pointers in this area?

Good one!

[blindzebra]

Real simple, don't focus on the directional point, it's the LEAST important part of an OOB call.

Whenever you have a call it should be whistle, dead ball signal, color, and then direction.

At your experience level a good whistle with a loud, "WHITE," and then the proper direction is what you should focus on. Don't be in a hurry to point, if you have a solid whistle and voice, you can be as deliberate as you need on the point.

[Mark Dexter]

I have this problem quite a bit - and working 4 or 5 games in a row doesn't help much.

One thing I like to say for the first few posessions of each half is "red coming my way" (if I'm at lead ) or "blue's on defense" and just repeat it over and over in my head.

[Hartsy]

Originally posted by MPLAHE
Early on, I would yell, "off blue, red ball" if confused without pointing in the direction of play, but I know this is not proper and can be confusing for the younger players.

A vet official once told me he had this habit. Told me to never say "off (any color)". The colors are heard, but seldom the "off". He felt it confused people, and made him look indecisive.

I have been working on my OOB mechanics too. I like what blindzebra said. It's how I visualize the call in my mind. Just doesn't always come out that way, but when it does, makes you look good.

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by MPLAHE
I need some advice from you seasoned officials out there. I am relatively new, with about 50 games under my belt this year, yet still, on occasion, struggle with remembering the direction the teams are going when making quick out of bounds calls. I remember a post here when I first started where others mentioned this as well. Early on, I would yell, "off blue, red ball" if confused without pointing in the direction of play, but I know this is not proper and can be confusing for the younger players.

I have gotten better with experience, yet on occasion still struggle, especially if I've done several back to back games and lose a little concentration. I will glance at the benches briefly to remind myself before making the call (the proper technique of raising your hand to signal to stop the clock gives you that extra time). Anyone have any pointers in this area? Other than that, I feel very comfortable on the floor and feel good about my overall technique and rules knowledge. My confidence will grow if I can improve in this area.

You already have all the pointers. Now, you must simply focus and make yourself do it.

Whistle.
Hand in the air.
"Blue!"
Look at the benches and point the right way.

Do not say, "Off white. Blue ball."

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by BktBallRef
You already have all the pointers. Now, you must simply focus and make yourself do it.

Whistle.
Hand in the air.
"Blue!"
Look at the benches and point the right way.

Do not say, "Off white. Blue ball."

I agree with all of this. But I must agree with those that say it gets confusing when you're doing more than one game. Some years, I have worked in various rec leagues where all the teams wore the same two colors, so I'd have two or three games in a row with red and white, or green and white. By the third game, looking at the benches told me nothing because I couldn't remember which half of which game it was. I would just shout the color, wait until they started moving, and then point after that, or not point at all.

[JRutledge]

Out of bounds calls do not need to be made or signaled immediately most of the time. Usually the calls are very easy to make and obvious to most people in the gym. It is those occasional plays that need to be made pretty much on the spot. When I was coming up I would concentrate on calling the color and not pointing. Then when I got much more comfortable, I would give the direction as well as the color simultaneously. This basically comes with time and some practice. I think all younger officials struggle with this problem for awhile. I think many times we feel we need to do everything at once and get ourselves all worried about what can go wrong. Practice in the mirror or in your house somewhere and this will just come with more and more practice.

Peace

thank you all for the pointers - I will begin to emphasize the call first and the direction second. As I said previously, most of my "problems" have come in the 4th or 5th game in a row and concentration plays a part.

The other problem I had in my most recent game was that one team only had 5 players, so when I looked to that bench for some "color" assistance, there was none.

thanks, all

[joseph2493]

Originally posted by MPLAHE
I need some advice from you seasoned officials out there. I am relatively new, with about 50 games under my belt this year, yet still, on occasion, struggle with remembering the direction the teams are going when making quick out of bounds calls. I remember a post here when I first started where others mentioned this as well. Early on, I would yell, "off blue, red ball" if confused without pointing in the direction of play, but I know this is not proper and can be confusing for the younger players.

I have gotten better with experience, yet on occasion still struggle, especially if I've done several back to back games and lose a little concentration. I will glance at the benches briefly to remind myself before making the call (the proper technique of raising your hand to signal to stop the clock gives you that extra time). Anyone have any pointers in this area? Other than that, I feel very comfortable on the floor and feel good about my overall technique and rules knowledge. My confidence will grow if I can improve in this area.

thanks

Just leave the "off blue" part of your statement out.

Simply blow your whistle get hand up..."red ball"... then look at the bench and point in the right direction.

[Smitty]

Originally posted by rainmaker

I agree with all of this. But I must agree with those that say it gets confusing when you're doing more than one game. Some years, I have worked in various rec leagues where all the teams wore the same two colors, so I'd have two or three games in a row with red and white, or green and white. By the third game, looking at the benches told me nothing because I couldn't remember which half of which game it was. I would just shout the color, wait until they started moving, and then point after that, or not point at all.

I worked some adult rec ball recently where the players warmed up before the game in front of their own bench, so they all wanted to go that way to start the game. I was new in the league, so my attempts to get my partner to switch it around were met with that "oh please, let's just get this over with" look. Talk about being screwed up with directions. Try working a game when the teams go the opposite way you're used to. Gotta love rec ball...

[thumpferee]

There are some great POINTS here!

One suggestion of mine is, know who's side of the court you're on or heading towards.

If in transition or unsure, just call out the color as others have told you, and delay your point.

Sometimes I get lost, which is no surprise, and I will just blow whistle with stop clock signal. Then I let the players tell me which way we will go. Probably not a good practice, but works in upper levels where they don't need you to decide everything for them.

[rainmaker]

After reading this thread for three days, you'd think I'd have been able to get it right, but I didn't. Second half, black tries to pass into the post from outside the three point line, white player jumps and clearly tips the ball oob. Everyone in the gym saw it. I blew the whistle, shouted "Black!" and pointed -- White. Of course, no one heard me yell. Fortunately, they also didn't hear me cursing under my breath.

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by joseph2493
Just leave the "off blue" part of your statement out.

Simply blow your whistle get hand up..."red ball"... then look at the bench and point in the right direction.

And, just say "red" rather than "red ball".