I was at a camp over memorial weekend and had a varsity/college official evaluated me and gave me some great advice about philosophy of the game and game management and I learn a lot from him. Last year he has seen me at a camp and evaluated me and has told me that my arm is not straight enough and that I have not made any improvement from the last time he seen me.

He told me that my arm is not straight enough when I make my calls for fouls and violation. I have tried to make it straighter during rec. league but seem like I canÂ’t do it.

When I make my call my arm goes up toward the 2 oÂ’clock or 10 oÂ’clock, he wants it up toward the 12 oÂ’clock. I donÂ’t know if I can break this habit if that is whatÂ’s going to hold me back to the next level.

Is this something that you evaluators look at when evaluating?

What can I do to fix this habit if that is going to hurt my chances to the next level?

By the way this evaluator is also the president of our association and he is the one who will make that decision whether am ready to move up or not.

It could be something that could hold you back. Yes, it is his job to look at your skills and tell you what you are doing wrong. Im going to be blunt. Dont make excuses, take what he says and do it. Thats the best thing to do. Good Luck

Practice in front of a mirror at home.

1) Yes.

2) Think, and practice, "bicep to the ear." Especially in summer ball, hold the arm, and then move it straight up, if needed. As you get used to where it "should be", you'll start putting it there in the first place.

Definitely fix it...it just looks lazy and sloppy...even if you're not. Not only does it look better at 12 o'clock, it's a bit higher and easier for your partner to see over the players.

It shouldn't be physically hard to do unless your arms are as thick as a 100 year-old oak or you head is the size of the giant pumpkin. If you really concentrate, thoese are the kind of things that take a couple of games to flush out.

Make sure every time you call a foul or violation you hit the side of your head with your arm. If you work on it for a while it will become a habit. As an evaluator, mechanics are the 1st thing I notice. It's difficult to get past sloppy mechanics to see the rest of an official's skills.

Ways to fix it --

Watch another ref that does it right. Then before your game, put yourself into a "Johnny Jones" frame of mind. Walk like Johnny Jones, signal like Johnny Jones, tweet like Johnny Jones.

What you're doing is performance art. Think of it that way. Think of it as a dance. You need to have the right combination of crispness and relaxed confidence. Right now you don't. You just look sloppy. Find the balance.

At home practice in front of the TV. Watch a game tape, and blow when they do. Practice going directly to the correct position.

Are you old enough to remember Abby Hoffman and the Black Panthers? Think of their fists over their heads. It was ALWAYS 12 o'clock. Make a statement! ... like they did. Hey that's a foul! Right on! Ref Power!

Practice doing it at home or wherever, just not during a game. That way you can focus on getting your arm straight up and will eventually become natural.

But get your knuckles pointed toward your head and not toward the front of your torso.

Practice all of your mechanics in front of the mirror. What is perfect in the mirror will not be perfect during a game but will be better.
Do you lock your elbow? Allow yourself a little bend in the elbow and have more of a strong hammer slightly in front of your face. This would be a way to begin to have a straight arm. It will look stronger sort of like an NBA official. This will look straighter to an evaluator that is looking at you from the front.
Find a comfort zone for you. You might take small elements of someone else's mechanics to make your own. Play with what works best for you and still satisfies your evaluator. I really mean play with it! The more you do this in front of a mirror the more you will be able to control what mechanics you use.

I'm just the opposite. I'm not nearly as worried about mechanics as I am about how a games is called and handled by the officials. Officials care more about mechanics than anyone else and they can be practiced (many others mentioned good ways to practice) and learned, but knowing what to call and how to handle situations is much tougher.

Don't get me wrong, mechanics are important, just not the most important thing.

I agree practice is important. I try and imagine that I am holding a nail in my hand and want to stick it in the wall as high as I can. I am not sure if you and picture that but it really helps me with C. Elias's suggestion of keeping your knuckles towards your head. It also helps to me to get my hand straight up. This really only works for foul calls as you need a closed fist to jam in the nail.

Just a trick that works for me.

Maybe he/she could be making two statements at the same time? Not sure how many evaluators would appreciate that, though...

Juulie - I'm old enough to remember that Abby Hoffman wasn't a member of the Black Panthers. He was a member of the "Chicago 7". I took your sentence to imply he was their leader, therefore a member. Perhaps you meant them to be two seperate entities, but I'm not smart enough to figure that out, as you know.

I'm also old enough to remember when dirt was invented.

BTW - I once met Abby Hoffman - really.

I met him too, at a talk he gave at my college back in 19mmmbbllmmmbblll, after he came out of hiding of course. My story: during questions after the talk someone asked a question that the audience did not appreciate, there were boos & catcalls as they tried to shout the questioner down. Abbie quieted them and asked "What the f@ck is wrong with you people? Haven't you been paying attention to ANYHING I had to say?" He was an incredibly warm, funny & human individual, very passionate but also very humble and a great showman.