Officials and Development

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by dan74

I find myself second guessing these situations quite a bit.

So.....quit doing that.

Seriously.

Every official sets their own guidelines when it comes to ascertaining what is "T"-worthy. You're in the process of developing your guidelines. As long as you're consistent to everybody involved on both teams, all is good. No one should have any complaints then.


And yes, every official goes through this development stage too. You have to find out what works best for you. You'll find too that your guidelines aren't really set in stone anyway. They'll change with circumstances sometime.

Technical fouls are just another call to be made. Don't waste time thinking about them, unless there is a chance that you can actually learn something out of a situation.

[rainmaker]

This has always been a problem for me. In spite of everyone telling me "don't think about it" "just call it like any other foul" "don't fret about it". I always fret, always second guess, always replay it later. Over and over again. Well, okay not always. Some are just so obvious. And then just when I think the whole thing seems so obvious, I call a T and an eval or a partner, or a friend watching in the stands says they think it was OOO or something.

All that to say, I sympathize. The way to think about it at the JH level, especially, is to deal with the complaining early in the game. Use the sentences and the gestures and the indications at the first sign of complaining. THen when you get to the point of feeling like you've had enough, let the coach know: "Coach, I've heard enough." Then when you have to do it, well, you have to, and you don't feel too bad about it. Give him his rope and let him hang himself.

And then when you do give it, be sure to call it, report it and then get away from the bench. Let him vent a little if it's not too loud or too flamboyant. Pregame for your partner to be there and give the second one, if necessary. If you have a pre-planned routine that you consistently use, you won't feel guilty when you have to do it.

ANd don't use numbers as an indicator of how well you're learning. Some seasons are just like that and you HAVE to give way more, and then other seasons are easier. That doesn't have a lot to do with your skill.

[blindzebra]

I've rarely doubted myself for calling one, I have kicked myself on the ride home for not calling one.

Just like the game slowing down for you takes time and experience, so does dealing with problem coaches and players.

You pretty much need to set your guidelines of what is not okay for you.

Have your automatics: they swore at you, they questioned your integrity, they were vocal and demonstrative and they were doing it on the floor or out of the box, etc.

Have your situational: the yapper, the shotgun, etc...and draw the line when they distract you. Warn and then they become automatic after that.

Nobody can set those for you. You need to figure out what you can ignore, what needs to be addressed, and what requires you to take care of business.

Once you figure out your boundaries, than work on ways to keep those boundaries from being reached without having to use the T...Now I'm in noway saying T's are bad, or always a last resort...but once you know where you stand on behavior, you can usually see very early in games where things will eventually head and you can have a few tricks in your bag that can head it off before it reaches your boundaries.

My advice is when you have a T, don't stress so much over calling it, focus on what behaviors lead to it and what you could have done to nip it in the bud before you whacked them. By doing that you better learn your limits and you start developing game management skills as well.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by blindzebra

I've rarely doubted myself for calling one, I have kicked myself on the ride home for not calling one.

Concur with that statement.

I only gave three T's last year - but kicked myself most for the one I didn't issue.

I try to avoid them like most, but, when a coach or player earns em, whack!

This all comes with experience, and this situation, like others, will certainly help you decide what to do next time.

[Chess Ref]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Seriously.

Technical fouls are just another call to be made. Don't waste time thinking about them, unless there is a chance that you can actually learn something out of a situation.

I"m finding that I am starting to treat technicals as just another foul. We talk about the 3 P's around here.

Personal- pretty much anything along the lines of "you suck,you're cheating, you ,you,you,you Automatic....

Profane- Automatic-though I give some wiggle room for players quietly cussing at themselves. Loud cussing is an automatic

Persistent is the one where I have to talk them off the ledge. I do work on communicating with coaches. I will be flexible but there comes a point some coaches want to jump off the ledge and I let them.


Here is my T rundown so far this year.

Kid running down the court, hands flailing, loudly letting me know , and evryone in the county know "I need to call that." I did. T

Repeat the 1st scenairo.

Frosh girls game. ball bouncing around girl finally corrals it. Opposing teams point guard,about 2 feet tall ,is jumping up and down in front of me doing a very nice,tight traveling mechanic. T ,

Coach on Friday night, 1 minute 8 seconds into game, empty gym yells something along the lines of "making that gosh darn call'. T

So the spontaneous ones are easy it's the persistent ones that are tougher.,

After the T on Frosh girl, watching Varsity later that night, I had a Hooisers moment with said girl and father. Father missed it but heard about it. I almost had a moment of compassion as the tears flowed from frosh girl as she apoligized (sp) to me.....

[Chess Ref]

I was under the impression T's were for punishing bad behavior. Along the lines of calling a common foul. Without a doubt some T's are about the official. But not calling a T can also be about the official.

Kid running down the court yelling at me in an empty gym. No brainer I will enforce the penalty that my Assoc. and the Feds want me to.

Is it about me-definetly. I'm letting all the other participants know that behavior that crosses the line,my line as forth by the rule book, will be dealt with accordingly.

It might be a stage I'm going through but I don't have much patience any more to run around after people trying to get them to act right. Act the fool ,there are consequences and it's not gonna be talk therapy, pleading and or appealing to said fools logic....

DAng Jurassic I just noticed you used my line. Great minds think alike.