Ever Felt Overwhelmed By The Rules (And Questions) When Beginning To Officiate?

[DrFeelGood]

I'm in the process of becoming an official but before I start to do anything I wanted to know if you've ever been overwhelmed by the amount of rules there are?

For example, I was doing some practice questions for the heck of it and I got 53% correct, the others were completely off...were you like this in the beginning? I love the game, know the majority of the rules, but just some things like some of the questions here are confusing: http://www.vhsl.org/Basketball/nfhs-02-03-exam1.htm

But regardless, I admit I havent read the rulebook simply because I don't have one. Anyone have a pdf of the 2007-2008 NFHS rule book with them? Or the exams?

I'd love to practice a little, thanks

[Indianaref]

Hope this helps
http://www.rules-study.com/index.html

[PSidbury]

I am in my first year and my biggest hurdle seems to be understanding a rule that (to me) seems inherently illogical.

For example: A player can catch their own errant shot that does not hit the rim, backboard, or another player and stays in field of play. This is not a travel.
My brain: Uh... but the player just "passed it to themselves" and re-established ball control on the other side of the court without dribbling.
Rules Book: Not a pass. This is a loss of team control and team control ends when the ball is released on a shot attempt.

I'm sure there are many more...

So... yeah... you're not alone.

Hang in there...

Before I got certified a couple of seasons ago, my feelings were truly hurt after taking some practice tests prior to the real deal.
I played ball & watched hoops all the time as really I LOVE THIS GAME... I thought I knew the game too, until I invested in a rule book.

[JRutledge]

The fact that you have not read the book will add to your feeling uneasy about the rules. But when I was a young official I had a copy of the Simplified and Illustrated book, which made many of the rules easier to understand off the bat. Basically, official only call basic fouls and basic violations. It is very seldom that anyone calls complicated things in the game of basketball (multiple Ts, multiple fouls, or administrative issues). I would suggest you buy the S & I book and study along with rulebook and casebook so that you can learn from all the resources that the NF puts out with their rules.

Peace

[tomegun]

I can remember a lot of things I did screwed up , but I wasn't overwhelmed by the rules. The first thing that popped into my mind was to wonder if the OP ever played basketball. Maybe being from Indiana and loving this game all my life was an advantage for me.
Rut just gave you some excellent advice get the SI book and keep it simple. You will probably find yourself in a room of officials arguing the most complicated rule in the book at some point. Remember this, those officials probably couldn't referee their way out of a paper bag and those complicated rules are great to know, but will probably never happen in your career - UNLESS you become an official who looks for them to happen.
If you are anal (like me) you can lessen this feeling you describe by taking care of several things that you can take care of before you ever step onto the court:

1. Know the rules and their application
2. Make sure your uniform is tailored, shoes shined (somewhat at least)
3. You are in good shape.
4. Your mechanics are perfect when practiced in front of the mirror. Your mechanics will slip a little in action so settle for nothing less than perfection while practicing. Use mechanics that fit you while still following the rule book. Steal mechanics from officials you like.
5. Become comfortable with doing things like blowing a whistle and raising your hand. It isn't really something natural.
6. Get in front of a mirror on a treadmill, if possible, and look at how you run. Remember you aren't playing basketball so don't really run like a player.

Sorry for going on and possibly getting off the subject.

[BillyMac]

This is my 27th year of officiating basketball. I've always been good at "booklearning", so learning the rules wasn't very difficult for me. What is difficult for me, after 27 years, are the rule changes. It's hard for me to keep them straight in my mind. I've gone from players moving into the lane on a free throw touching the rim or backboard, to the release by the shooter, back to the free throw touching the rim or backboard.

Last year I worked with one of the best officials on our board, a veteran official. After a double foul was called he was ready to put the ball in play using the alternating possession arrow until I reminded him that the new rule was point of interuption. It's not the rules, it's the rule changes that can cause problems.

Also, our local board recently switched from NFHS mechanics, which hardly ever seemed to change in 25 years, to IAABO mechanics, which seem to change every year, in many cases, without any type of announcement. For 25 years, with NFHS mechanics, as the lead, my boundary line responsibility was my closest endline, and my closest sideline, all the way back to the farther endline. Granted, sometimes I had to ask my partner for help after I blew the whistle to stop the clock on an out of bounds on my line. Now, with IAABO mechanics, as the lead, my sideline responsibility ends at the foul line extended. It's hard to change, especially when some of our veteran's, who are great officials, don't seem to realize that the mechanics have changed.

[TheOracle]

Originally Posted by DrFeelGood

I'm in the process of becoming an official but before I start to do anything I wanted to know if you've ever been overwhelmed by the amount of rules there are?

I'm 15 years in and still find times where I get rules wrong. Situations occur in games where decisions regarding rules are made. Big ones get attention, small ones usually do not. But like with any subject, if you go back and verify what you did in those situations, and more importantly learn not to repeat rule mistakes, you will get better at mastering them. Also remember, there are 2 or 3 of you, so there is nothing wrong with asking your partners for help on rules. Making sure you get it right as a crew is paramount, more important than your individual ego. Educating your crew when you do your own research--as almost everyone here certainly does--helps everyone. Read the book, but do as many games a possible, ask questions, and work with your partners to get it right as much as you can. Don't worry about anything else!

[JRutledge]

Tommy took it to another level which he does really well. That was even better advice and more descriptive. You cannot go wrong with what he just told you.

Peace

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by PSidbury

I am in my first year and my biggest hurdle seems to be understanding a rule that (to me) seems inherently illogical.

For example: A player can catch their own errant shot that does not hit the rim, backboard, or another player and stays in field of play. This is not a travel.
My brain: Uh... but the player just "passed it to themselves" and re-established ball control on the other side of the court without dribbling.
Rules Book: Not a pass. This is a loss of team control and team control ends when the ball is released on a shot attempt.

I'm sure there are many more...

So... yeah... you're not alone.

PS - the interesting thing about rules such as this is....you never knew it, now you do....and sooner or later you'll be in a game and will see it and probably be the only one in the gym knowing a NO call is the RIGHT call! And eveyone else will scream and yell.....and you'll just smile inside.

That's one of the intangibles that makes this job fun! Like many, I have played and coached for yrs. But, until I started reading the rules....I didn't know what I didn't know. There's a lot - but do your best, continue to learn and ask questions, practice, watch sr officials in games when possible, go to camps if you can....blah, blah, blah, etc.

[Coltdoggs]

Originally Posted by PSidbury

I am in my first year and my biggest hurdle seems to be understanding a rule that (to me) seems inherently illogical.

For example: A player can catch their own errant shot that does not hit the rim, backboard, or another player and stays in field of play. This is not a travel.
My brain: Uh... but the player just "passed it to themselves" and re-established ball control on the other side of the court without dribbling.
Rules Book: Not a pass. This is a loss of team control and team control ends when the ball is released on a shot attempt.

I'm sure there are many more...

So... yeah... you're not alone.

7 years in and there are some that still have me

PSid..on your first one...just remember, any player on the floor can rebound a shot attempt...if you deem it a shot, ANYBODY can rebound it...even if it only draws air...

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by PSidbury

For example: A player can catch their own errant shot that does not hit the rim, backboard, or another player and stays in field of play. This is not a travel.
My brain: Uh... but the player just "passed it to themselves" and re-established ball control on the other side of the court without dribbling.
Rules Book: Not a pass. This is a loss of team control and team control ends when the ball is released on a shot attempt.

Most people don't know that this isn't traveling because nthey don't realize you must be holding the ball in order to travel. *

Newbies: The rules can be difficult, basically because you're unlearning all the myths that you've learned from watching and playing the game. If you don't have a rule book and case book, order from www.nfhs.com. Also, the ARS software is a great tool and includes electronic versions of both of these books.

You've taken a good first step by joining this forum. There's also a forum at www.nfhs.org. There are a lot of crusty veterans in this site. But if you'll read and digest the things we write while asking questions but not arguing, you'll gain a tremendous amount of knowledge just from reading everyday, esepcially during the season.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Coltdoggs

7 years in and there are some that still have me

PSid..on your first one...just remember, any player on the floor can rebound a shot attempt...if you deem it a shot, ANYBODY can rebound it...even if it only draws air...

And even if it's not a shot, it's still not traveling.

[Back In The Saddle]

Most definitely. Don't give up. And put into practice what others have already told you.