Advice for rookie officials

[dave30]

Don't be overwhelmed by the rulebook. You need to know it, but don't memorize rules so much that you forget to just referee the game. Use your common sense and just call the game as you would want it called if you were playing. Ask yourself if the player gained an advantage illegally or not. Do not ball watch, learn from your mistakes, and have fun ! You WILL get better with more experience and don't think of yourself as a rookie when you work with an experienced official. You are just as important to the game as that experienced official. I just found this site. Lots of good info in here, I will be reading for weeks!

[Edited by dave30 on Nov 19th, 2005 at 02:38 AM]

[blindzebra]

I'd say the most important things are blow your whistle and vocalize what you are calling.

I disagree with this:


"Call the game as you would want it called if you were playing."

Doing that means you just may fall into the reaching/3 seconds/over the back basketball myths trap. I'd much rather see inexperienced officials making mistakes trying to apply the rules correctly, than ingraining the myths.

That aside, welcome.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by dave30
Don't be overwhelmed by the rulebook. You need to know it, but don't memorize rules so much that you forget to just referee the game.

How can you referee the game if you don't know the rules?

Just wondering where you're coming from on this one.

Welcome to the forum.

[canuckrefguy]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

How can you referee the game if you don't know the rules?

JR learned this one the hard way....

When JR started out reffing, Dr. Naismith used to ride his a** hard about rules knowledge.



(I know, I know - I'm shutting up)

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by canuckrefguy

JR learned this one the hard way....

Good point, and a lotta truth in that one also, Canucklehead. I can remember a coupla situations in my first few years where I went into the dressing room after a game just sooooo proud of the job that I'd just done......and then an evaluator sitting in the stands would come in.........

You learn by your mistakes. If you don't make 'em, you ain't learning. Missing or blowing a call happens to everyone. It's hard to explain mis-applying a rule though because you just didn't know or understand it properly. Lord knows I got that pounded into my hard head often enough when I was starting out.

[SMEngmann]

I'd actually argue that it's far better for a new official to "overcall" a game and to over-apply rules simply because doing so allows you to gain a better sense of judgement. At least if you're overcalling, you are calling what's there and you're applying the rules, whereas if you're letting too much go, it's much harder to go the other way, just like it's much harder to teach yourself the proper mechanics when you've been doing a partial job on mechanics. Sure you'll get a lot of frustration to deal with, but that frustration from the players/coaches will come anyhow, you might as well use it constructively.

[JRutledge]

I do not know how a brand new official all of a sudden knows the rules when they have not worked many games? Many rules are not learned until you experience situations. I guess JR thinks everyone passes a test knows what to call or what not to call.

Peace

[Chess Ref]

So i basically am at the Frosh/JV level. Also do Adult Rec. For most of the last year I let way too much go. Very often my games got out of control. One reason is I started off way too loose. So about 2 months ago in Adult ball I started overcalling and wahlaa. The players seem to be playing better-not as much thuggery-and I get to practice my mechanics. LOL been doing some varsity scrimmages the last couple of weeks and I have been calling tight games. The fans, coaches, players have all of a sudden curtailed their complaining by say 60 % or so. It seems to me that they need someone to at least act in control in the games because they feel out of control. Now i may be blowing smoke up my own but I am liking my "new" way of calling and for this year i am gonna stick with it.

Worked a boys varsity today. So its me a 2yr ref, a total newby, and a average vet ref. The vet ref just overwhelmded the newby with things along the lines of advantahe/Disadvantage, squaring the shoulders to let your partner know whats going on,etc. He had no chance. So i told him just call everything you see and let the chips fall where they may. He blew his whistle a little more and by the end of the scrimmage he said he felt a little more comfortable.

So I am sticking with the newbys should blow the whistle and overcall.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Chess Ref
Worked a boys varsity today. So its me a 2yr ref, a total newby, and a average vet ref. The vet ref just overwhelmded the newby with things along the lines of advantahe/Disadvantage, squaring the shoulders to let your partner know whats going on,etc. He had no chance. So i told him just call everything you see and let the chips fall where they may. He blew his whistle a little more and by the end of the scrimmage he said he felt a little more comfortable.

So I am sticking with the newbys should blow the whistle and overcall.

That sounds great but to become a good official you have to know when to make calls and know when not to make calls. Just blowing your whistle every time something is close is not what is going to advance a newer official. As a matter of fact it might get that official held back. I would agree that in the short term the official might get away with calling every little thing, but officiating is also a competition. The officials that know how to call the game (using advantage/disadvantage) will be the officials that get the opportunities to move to the higher level a lot quicker.

Peace

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by JRutledge

That sounds great but to become a good official you have to know when to make calls and know when not to make calls. Just blowing your whistle every time something is close is not what is going to advance a newer official. As a matter of fact it might get that official held back. I would agree that in the short term the official might get away with calling every little thing, but officiating is also a competition. The officials that know how to call the game (using advantage/disadvantage) will be the officials that get the opportunities to move to the higher level a lot quicker.

Peace

I do not know how a brand new official all of a sudden knows advantage/disadvantage when they have not worked many games? Many concepts are not learned until you experience situations. I guess JRut thinks every new official knows what advantage/disadvantage really is and how to apply it properly.

[dave30]

What I meant is not to memorize the rulebook and think that makes you a good official. You have to know the rules obviously, but common sense should play a big part. You have to learn to wait and see a play develop rather than apply the rules literally. If Player A is obviously fouled by Player B in the backcourt, but is able to pass the ball to a teammate for a layup, you have to have the common sense to know that you should let that one go. If a player is standing 1/2 inch over the line when throwing the ball inbounds, either tell him to move back or just let it go. Do not be too "nitpicky" just because it is a rule when common sense keeps the game flowing. If you are doing little kid games and a fourth grader takes a couple of steps before dribbling in the backcourt, let it go, it doesn't affect the game at all. I don't like the saying " a foul is a foul"...anytime,in any situation, but many people believe that is the case. I don't.

[Edited by dave30 on Nov 20th, 2005 at 04:53 AM]

[SMEngmann]

Originally posted by JRutledge

That sounds great but to become a good official you have to know when to make calls and know when not to make calls. Just blowing your whistle every time something is close is not what is going to advance a newer official. As a matter of fact it might get that official held back. I would agree that in the short term the official might get away with calling every little thing, but officiating is also a competition. The officials that know how to call the game (using advantage/disadvantage) will be the officials that get the opportunities to move to the higher level a lot quicker.

Peace

Rut, I think you're ahead of yourself, and it may be different based on the person, but I think it's a lot easier to begin to look at foul selection if you're calling too many fouls than if you're calling too few as a new official. As you see more plays, it then becomes a lot easier to hold the whistle on contact later on because now judgement comes into play. For a newbie, I think it's more important to blow every foul and work on learning rules and mechanics and not to worry about judgement. Judgement and selectivity will then come when the official calls a foul that doesn't impact the play and thinks, "Gee, maybe I could've passed on that." It's far easier than, "God that guy got hammered, maybe I should've called something." Obviously guys who call too many fouls will have a hard time moving up, but the guys who see a train wreck and don't have a whistle won't remain in officiating very long, and again, I think it's easier to learn and adjust by at first calling too many fouls, which will eventually lead to developing judgement.

[Chess Ref]

I really am enjoying this thread.

JRut- I hear what you are saying. I also think for me right now its more important that I work on keeping my games under control. If in 5 years I still am calling everything well then I screwed the pooch somewhere along the way. And the games I have now are the games I will be getting for the next 4/5 years. So lots of time to figure out 'Stuff" like Adv/Dis.

SmE-Pretty close to my new found way of thinking. I mean I let it get to the point of Frosh girls were figuring out anything less than Assault & Battery, then they could do it. So this year my goals are

A. Keeping games under control. Game management with coaches.
B. Strong mechanics / strong presence. I have body postures issues.
C. Adv/Disad

[blindzebra]

Originally posted by JRutledge

That sounds great but to become a good official you have to know when to make calls and know when not to make calls. Just blowing your whistle every time something is close is not what is going to advance a newer official. As a matter of fact it might get that official held back. I would agree that in the short term the official might get away with calling every little thing, but officiating is also a competition. The officials that know how to call the game (using advantage/disadvantage) will be the officials that get the opportunities to move to the higher level a lot quicker.

Peace

Ridiculous.

Many and close to all new officials are overwhelmed as it is, most have trouble even blowing their whistle that first game.

This is a progression, while some may progress faster, 99.9% need to crawl before they walk.

You have them in the 100 yard dash.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by blindzebra

Ridiculous.

Many and close to all new officials are overwhelmed as it is, most have trouble even blowing their whistle that first game.

This is a progression, while some may progress faster, 99.9% need to crawl before they walk.


You have them in the 100 yard dash.

BZ -- I agree with your principle, but I think it's an over-statement to call what Jeff says ridiculous. The fact of the matter, it seems to me, is that most people do go through stages of learning, the first of which is not calling nearly enough, the second is calling way too much, and then they sort of swing back and forth for a year or two, and finally settle down somewhere in the Mushy A/D Middle.

But I think there are a few refs who start from a different angle, and don't progress through the stages in the same order. Jeff may very well be one of them. I've seen a few, and then tend to be the ones who zoom up through the levels and are doing college within three or four years. Which, IIRC, is Jeff. These folks have a natural reffing ability that just needs fine tuning, and they understand A/D almost instinctively, like a muscian with perfect pitch.

Believe me when I say, I'm not one of the latter type!! But I've worked with a lot of beginners, and a lot of those hanging around at the lower levels of ability (like myself), and I think my generalizations of the two types are about on target.

So for Jeff to say that he thinks people can zoom into the 100 yard dash right from the start is a reflection on his own ref-learning path. But it's not ridiculous for him to believe that everyone is like that. After all, he hasn't seen the lower levels much.