1/2 a second behind.
 

OK.. did my second and third games tonight. I seem to be about a half a second slow. I see the call.. but it is registering slowly.. I'm assuming this is normal for rookies??

You are either going to be really slow or really fast (anticipating contact or violations). It just takes some time to know what to call and to know what not to call.

Peace

Yes, this is normal. And, in fact, it can be a good thing. Having a patient whistle is a virtue. It allows you to see the whole play develop before deciding if the contact was worth calling. I dislike working with partners who have an Insta-Whistle(tm). It sometimes gets us into trouble, or causes us to have to call something we don't want to at this end, because he called something too quickly at that end that he should have let go.

Now I realize that having a patient whistle is different than that "rookie fog" you have to work through to recognize a violation/foul immediately when you see it. But as you begin recognizing things more immediately, don't think you need to jump on them more quickly.

Ya... I find myself letting alot of small contact go. Everything looks all ball. Or I'll be halfway down the court wondering if I should have called body contact..

I like the phrase "rookie fog". Thats exactly it. I guess I just need to keep working through it.

I do my first jv game next thursday. 2 games freshman a and b team.

My main goals tonight were
1. Stop the clock.
2. Be more assertive with the whistle and calls
3. Slow down.

I think I did that. So now I need 3 new goals for my next game.

1. Remember my out of bounds counts. (I kept forgeting to visual the 5 second count on the throw in.)
2. Increase recognition speed.
3. Make the call. Even if its a 1/2 second late. (I was letting them slide because I didn't recognize them in time)

It is not unusual to make a call a little late when you first start. This can also be a good thing with the fact that you are processing what you see. And maybe you just get it earlier than other officials that are starting out. But I would not put too much stock into what you are doing now. Usually you will go through these cycles as you advance to different levels of teams and when you have different experiences.

The goal ultimately is to have a slow whistle and let plays happen before you have to do something. The earlier you learn that art the better off you will be. Do not be surprised if that takes years to accomplish and even then that art takes time to perfect even if you know what you are doing.

Peace

Finding the right timing for calls is something that develops. When you watch the best officials in your area work, notice when they make certain calls. Too early and the decision could turn out to be poor, too late and there will certainly be grief or lack of credibility.

Getting it just right is one element that separates the excellent officials from the good.

I think that's pretty good. I know my learning curve was that I began reffing calling things too soon, then I slowed down to the point where I was calling some stuff a bit too late, then I slowly worked my way up to being closer to the mythical "just right."

I don't know about that. When I started, I was half-fast. ;)

Last year was my first year and one of the best suggestions I received was to go and watch as many games from "seasoned officials" as you possibly can. Watch their mechanics, calls, and also exercise your concentration. This year I am doing a lot of games and I will stay around and watch the varsity games. This has taught me that some of the best calls are "no calls". Best of luck.

From a newbie perspective, it is true, we are either fast on the whistle or slow. It has been my experience that most are slow or non existent and we have to learn to blow the whistle. I have 13 games under my belt now and things are finally slowing down for me. I have found a comfortable timing with my whistle, but I still miss some or my reaction is too slow and the play is gone. However, beyond the whistle, the biggest snafu, imo, has been an off ball foul called, reported and then the table says... they are in the bonus... rut ro... who got fouled? who shoots? That is my current goal now to always know what my partner has and BOTH players involved and for me to communicate the same to him.

Sounds like you are coming along well Bearfanmike20!!

Splute, that's a good thing to pregame with your partner. It is sometimes hard to pick out the shooter when you're concentrating on the fouler. I had a JV game last night where we talked about this very thing. The non-calling official would get a bead on who the shooter was just in case the other missed it.
It really helped us keep track as we had just discussed it.

Very good point!

I can count on one finger the amount of times I have seen a JV ref hang around for the Varsity game the last two seasons.

In the olden days, back say in the 1980's, JV refs always hung around, to watch the game, to listen to half time and post games, and would even be rewarded with legal beverages with the Varsity crew. Now, most young officials are on the road before the Varsity game starts. It's a bad thing to do.

Hmmm. I've never seen it spelled that way.

Our board requires the JV officials stay for at least the first half of the V game afterwards. They also require the V officials to get there early to watch at least half the JV game since they are expected to rate the JV officials.

A little slow is better than too quick (notice I said a LITTLE slow). Too quick can mean you're anticipating. Sounds like you're off to a good start.