Carrying a weak partner

[Back In The Saddle]

I attended a church-sponsored officiating camp this week to help out with training church league referees. The mix of experience and abilities was very wide ranging. Some folks we encouraged to sign up for high school ball this year. Others...well I shudder at the mere thought of them stepping on any court anywhere. And I got to work with some of both.

As I have moved up the ranks, I find more often than not that I'm paired with weaker partners. So I have had ample opportunity to work on my "lead official" skills and learn to carry a weaker partner. Generally it goes pretty well. But this weekend was a very mixed bag. Frankly I was surprised at how badly a couple of my games went. Apparently I don't have all the tools in my bag that I need.

Which has me thinking: What do you think it takes to successfully carry a significantly weaker partner, especially in an ugly game?