I am a second year official that does about 25 games a year at the JV level. I am doing a JV tournament this weekend. It is all on a volunteer basis. The majority of officials working are varsity officials. They decided to work 3 man to get ready for the playoffs. Both officials I am working with are great guys and one I talked to said don't worry we will talk you through the 3 man mechanics. Can anyone give me any quick tips to remember or any tips to make it easier on me so I can officiate and not worry about where I am supposed to be. Thanks in advance.

Official who calls the foul goes tableside. If you're in that spot, you switch with him. Otherwise, you don't switch.

L and T are always on the same side. The ball is always inbound by the L or T.

If all else fails, just go where someone isn't.

Lead initiates most rotations.

Lead or Trail always administers throw-ins.

If the ball comes from Center side to the basket, let the Center make that call if you are the lead official.

Trust your partners.

Officiate; do not worry so much about where you are standing.

I could go on and on about situations and mechanics. I think the best thing to do is review the mechanics in the book and just do the best you can. You should have some kind of pregame with the officials (not like normal, but tell them what you know and do not know). This is a great time for you to make mistakes and learn from them.

Peace

Agreed. My first 3-whistle game was a high school playoff game where the loser went home for the season. No clinic, no formal training, no nothing.

This is a great opportunity for you.

--Rich

As C resist the urge to run down court to new L when the ball turns over. I can almost guarantee this will happen to you.

As T or C remember to glance at your partners to make sure you haven't missed a rotation.

Don't get lost in the mechanics of this, just referee your game.

What everyone else said was right on.
Something little to remember in addition to all of the other stuff said earlier, it is easier to exist in a 3 person crew if you trust your partners and anticipate the flow of the offense.
The trust goes to staying in your area and the anticipation goes to rotations to the strong side(T & L).
AAR

WOW!!!

That would be scary.

Peace

Great opportunity. Best advice is to referee the game; your partners will (should) help you with the "rotations" and "switches" but you've got to referee the game. No different than 2 man, you've got to put air in the whistle when you need to.

You'll need to understand what is and isn't your primary area of coverage. Don't get too focused on who switches and/or rotates with who/where - you'll get help and it will be much clearer as you gain experience. But you're pretty much on your own with your primary areas during the game - so learn the coverage breakdowns.

Above all else - work hard, and remember to have fun.

When you are first starting three-person, don't forget to call the game. Many officials new to 3-person are so deep in thought about coverage areas and rotations that they forget to blow the whistle on a train wreck right in front of them. Better to have two whistles than no whistles. Just slow down and if you go out of your area a bit, yield the double whistle to the ref that had primary. You can talk about coverage areas with your partners later.

Z

Thanks for the help
 

Thanks for the input. I am working with a great crew and it is a pretty relaxed JV tournament, so it should go okay. Good advice from everybody.

You'll be fine. Your partners sound like good guys to be doing your first 3-man with. If you have any question, just ask one of them during a timeout or something. I'm sure they will be glad to help you out! Good luck.

Again, 2 cents
 

One thing to make sure and that is rotation for the calling official. Some associations do not rotate the calling official to tableside, but go opposite table which is the old way.

When I moved to SC, they are ignoring the college rule and remaining with the calling official moving opposite table.

So, what I would ask right off, if I am the calling official, do I go tableside or opposite table.


goose

Notice how many times when you're in the C position, defense grabs the rebound and heads up court, and, guess what you'll do??

Start the 10 second count. Simply because you see the new L in front of you, your reflexes will start the count, lol.

Not that it's a big deal, because, more than likely, after 1 or 2 arm signals, you'll notice the T behind you has the count going and you'll let it go.

My best advice is <b>Slow Down</b>, don't overthink, you'll learn a lot just by picking up on your partners. As Z said earlier, don't forget to blow your whistle. Because, sometimes we worry so much about primaries, am I in the right position, watching for partners rotating, if I'm L should I rotate (cross the lane), etc. <b>Relax and Have Fun</b>

One more bit of advice, when you're the L official, <b>DON'T LOOK UP</b>. Let the C and T officials watch for fouls up top while shooting, 'over the back' fouls, free throws not hitting the rim, ball bounding over the backboard, hitting the supports, etc. As Lead, you will be concentrating on body contact fouls.

From my experience (and from listening to our state evaluators, veterans, college level officials, etc), one of the main responsibilities of the L official is to keep the rotation in order so our partners stay in position to referee and call the fouls.

Slow down.

Concentrate on calling your game and focusing on the area right in front of you (if you don't know exactly what your primary is) rather than on positioning. But - remember that you always want to have a triangle of refs.

Also, have a good, solid pre-game, and the two experienced refs should discuss whose job it is to "correct" rotational/switching errors.

Finally, communicate. There are 3 sets of eyes - you can look at your partners for a split second to see if you're standing where they think you should be.

If this is as you say a relaxed JV tournament that you are donating your time to then one thing I would do is at every brake in the action (time-out,end of quarter) I would try to get the other officials to huddle with me and go over anything they have seen as a problem or just discuss about rotation. When we work 3 man we try to do this at the first brake in each half. In this RELAXED atmosphere where officials are trying to get ready for tournament time or as you are just for the experience I would use these time-outs much as the teams do as a time to learn.