Game speed

[hooper]

Fonzzy,

I understand your concern. I'm new to officiating myself and it's hard for me too to switch between different levels of play in a single day (3rd grade, 7th grade, 5th grade). Likewise, sometimes the rules are different between grades (For 3rd grade, over-and-back is OK, there's no stealing, no pressing, no double teaming, etc.)

Also, for 3rd graders, you sometimes don't call much of anything because if you started calling things, you'd be blowing your whistle every 3 seconds (travel, double dribble, foul, etc.) In 7th, you call everything.

When you say "speed of the game," do you mean running speed up and down the court or the fact that things happen much more quickly in 7th grade than they do in 3rd or 5th?

I guess in either case I've found that it's helpful to mentally prepare yourself between games for the next game. Also, if you're working with someone else, talk to him/her about what you'll be focusing on, what you'll emphasize, etc.