Three man mechanics
 

Looking for somewhere to get basic rule of thumb mechanics for 3 man game coming up?? Thanks

Use your Officials Manual.

Three person mechanics.....
I found this site last year. I posted it here and found out many places use different techniques, primaries, etc. View at your on risk.

http://www.recserv.uiowa.edu/program...rals/court.swf

You have a game coming up and you aren't sure about your mechanics?

Here's the rule of thumb for 3 person mechanics:

http://www.proscodi.com/nospec/image...b_Badge_Sm.gif

It happens.

And??? In the state I live in, it is all 2 man, so yeah, you have nothing better to do than to type such replys??? Jerk !!

Hope this helps.....
http://www.holyconservancy.org/images/setupz.gif

If you have never attended a camp, if you don't know coverage responsibilities, rotations etc. It will be a disastor. Hopefully this is just a scrimmage. If your partners know three man you should be able to muddle through.

Study the manual, study the manual, study the manual.

Are the guys you're officiating with experienced in 3-man? If so, you'll be fine. If not, just make sure to cover for each other and do your best. Your main job is still to officiate the game - applying the mechanics appropriately help you do that, but worrying about being the right spot is secondary to watching the action and officiating the players.

Actually I was wondering the very same thing. Considering that the NF has a book about mechanics and the college level also has many mechanics information as well, I am a little curious why you would not have some knowledge before you have to work a game with that mechanic. I think it was a fair question to ask you.

I would also like to agree with Gordon on this as well. Just picking up a book or even information without some practice and be very difficult. I disagree that you just have to officiate and forget about where to stand. Part of officiating under these mechanics is knowing where to be or you will not be in the proper position or call the right things.

I will direct you to a PowerPoint our state uses. Log on and download the 3 Person Mechanics PowerPoint and that should cover the basics. I would suggest that in the future at least attend a camp that might give you a much better grasp of the system for future games.

Download the 3 Person Presentation

Peace

Take a little extra time in the pregame with your partners to go over coverage and flexing situations. This will help most. Study the book all you want, but if you do not cover a variation in the pregame, it will look like it is the first time out for all of you.

Excellent advice - being on the same page as your partners is critical to your success here. Make sure they know it's your first time doing 3-man, that you've studied the book and understand the mechanics, and that you'll do your best to apply them, but that any help and "philosophy" they can share on flexing and coverage would be very beneficial.

I know not all will agree with me, but being text-book in your first time out with 3-man is much less important than officiating the ballgame. Be confident, go out there and do your best, and don't get rattled if you end up in the wrong spot a time or two. It will happen.

It is not about being "text-book" it is about knowing what you are looking at and what your basic responsibilities are. The more I observer and evaluate officials in a couple of hats I have worn, the more I realize when someone is lost about the mechanics; they are lost in officiating the game. A good example is how a Lead official will call on the other side of the lane because they are reverting to 2 Person philosophies that do not apply in 3 Person. That does not mean someone cannot overcome some things, but if you lack understanding, it can cause an official to call things they have no business calling or even doing things that will confuse his/her partners. This is why I would be concerned when I work with people that have little or no experience in the system and I have to work with them. There is only so much I can teach them in a pre-game. My state has done a very good job giving our officials information so most are not totally lost. But I can tell you when I work a varsity game and one of the officials might not show up, the first question I ask to the sophomore officials, "Do you have any 3 Person experience?"

Peace

No doubt everything works better when people understand the mechanics, how to be positioned, where are their responsibilities, etc. That much is obvious.

But what's also true is the original poster here is going to work his first 3-man game very soon, whether he's ready or not. So I'm hoping we can help him as much as possible - regardless of whether he's "ready to go" or not. The truth of the matter is many officials will go 3-man for the first time in a game. Might be JV, might be Varsity. Hopefully they'll get a scrimmage or two, or even better a camp, but my guess is that outside of one or two pre-season scrimmages, most officials are thrown right in.

Bottom line, experience working games and scrimmages is the only thing that will fully prepare an official, and this guy doesn't seem to have the luxury of any "practice" priot to the real deal. So here's to giving him all the help we can. And I'll stick to my best advice in that situation - learn as much as you can in the book, do as much pregaming as possible with your partners, and then go out and officiate hard.