First Year Reflections

[bard]

Last night was the final game of my first season as an official. I've followed this forum and one other all year, and this has really helped my interpretation of many rules and situations. So my thanks to all of you who provided positive input and encouragement, and special thanks to mick who pointed me to the NewBalance shoes!

I'll be renewing for next year, and thought I would assess my lessons learned and areas of improvement for next year...

Lessons Learned
1. Stretch before every game--even 5th grade girls. (Had one leg cramp in the middle of a game.)
2. Don't backpeddle. My achilles hasn't hurt since I stopped.
3. Note the number of the freethrow shooter before reporting a foul and granting a timeout during freethrows.
4. Keep the whistle in my mouth when the ball is live!
5. Eye contact with my partner before putting the ball in play.
6. I can't call it a foul late in the game if I don't call it early. (Without catching a lot of grief for it, that is.)
7. Don't dwell on my mistakes, or I'll make another one right away.
8. Constantly review the rule book.
9. Read the "case studies" on this forum.
10. Don't drink PowerAde during games. Man, that had some nasty side affects... I'm sticking with water from now on!

Areas of Improvement
1. Learn rules better
2. Get in better shape
3. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation... DANG!
4. Concentrate on keeping my eyes in my area of coverage.
5. Concentrate the entire game--even the 47-1 blowouts.
6. Practice prevention through more interaction with players.
7. Count the players--accurately!
8. Get better at recognizing travelling
9. Be quicker with the whistle. (I sometimes take too long to make up my mind.)
10. Keep up on the NCAA better so I don't humiliate myself in next year's pool...

[mick]

Originally posted by bard

3. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation... DANG!

bard,
Lock that elbow!

Try to get to a camp... it's the right time for your game.
mick

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by bard
Lessons Learned
1. Stretch before every game--even 5th grade girls. (Had one leg cramp in the middle of a game.)

That's more water and potassium than it is stretching. Eat a banana or two the day of a game and drink plenty of water. Or take potassium tablets if you don't like bananas.

Originally posted by bard
Areas of Improvement
9. Be quicker with the whistle. (I sometimes take too long to make up my mind.)

If I had a choice between a partner with a quick whistle and one with a slow whistle, I'd pick the slow whistle everytime. There's nothing wrong with a slow whistle. Your opportunity here is to become confident enough to recognize the infraction, make the call or understand there was no advantage/disadvantage and don't call anything.

Good luck!

[Mark Padgett]

Originally posted by bard

4. Keep the whistle in my mouth when the ball is live!

Not when you're tossing to start the game.

I mean the ball, not your cookies.

Yikes, where's my meds?

[Jim Armstrong]

As a 41 yo, first year ref. I must say that I concur with all your points myself, except for the closed fist, open hand, I didn't seem to have much problem with that one. Everything else fits me perfectly as well. I plan to attend two camps this summer, as well as work summer league ball. Those things should help me improve tremendously before next season. I'm sure it would be good if you could do those things as well. Good luck next season!

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by bard
2. Don't backpeddle. My achilles hasn't hurt since I stopped.

Always remember to do the look over your shoulder while running straight - not only does it reduce injuries to yourself, it reduces the likelihood of collisions with others on the sidelines (I actually have seen several college officials do the backpedal, though).

5. Eye contact with my partner before putting the ball in play.

I can't stress this one enough!! Whether you have a running or stopped clock or there is 7:59 in the first or :00.1 in the second overtime, always make sure you look at your partner(s) before inbounding! (I've had some problems from quick partners this season.)

3. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation. Closed hand-Foul. Open hand-Violation... DANG!

Once again - an important one. Don't keep your partner(s) in the dark. If there is a foul, we can start the switch/line everyone up for FT's. If a violation, we can rotate properly and possibly set up the inbound.

10. Keep up on the NCAA better so I don't humiliate myself in next year's pool...

Quite possibly the most important thing on your lists! Of course, make sure you stop doing pools when you get picked to do college ball!

[mick]

Originally posted by Jim Armstrong
As a 41 yo, first year ref. I must say that I concur with all your points myself, except for the closed fist, open hand, I didn't seem to have much problem with that one. Everything else fits me perfectly as well. I plan to attend two camps this summer, as well as work summer league ball. Those things should help me improve tremendously before next season. I'm sure it would be good if you could do those things as well. Good luck next season!

Jim,
Good plan.
Good luck.
mick

[Doug]

here is my top 20 list of ways to have a good game, and then 20 ways to have a bad one
1. relax, when you work, enjoy the game and have fun!!
2. look and act like a reff from arrival to departure
3. keep your cool, no matter what
4. mentally prepare and rehearse
5. be prepared to handle the unexpected
6. let the players know you are human
7. seek first to understand, then to be understood
8. wk hard to manage the game and not control it
9. check your ego at the door
10. accept your reality and don't badmouth other refs
11. referee the defense, and think like the offence
12. learn from everyone and anyone
13. do a pre-game w/ partners and table, talk w/ game manag.
14. get and give up games the rihgt way, call the ad
15. solicit constructive criticism
16. get the damn call right
17. don't forget to pay atttention during dead balls
18. have a patient whistle
19. learn how to make a no call
20. don't make up fouls- phantom/make up calls

20 ways to have a bad game

1. not hustling
2. not being open to listining, but being willing to talk
3. not asking for help when needed
4. refereeing out of your primary
5. punishing good d (verticality)
6. not protecting the shooter
7. calling a bucket good or no good when you didn't have the foul!!
8. letting the crowd control you
9. making up fouls and signals
10. ball watching
11. letting illegal screens and reroutes go uncalled
12. saying over the back and reaching- these are NOT fouls
13. anticipating calls
14. calling your partner's endlinie
15. not knowing the 5 correctable errors
16. bailing out as the trail
17. not knowing the difference between possesion, team control, and player control
18. selling every single call you make
19. watching the ball in the air as the lead
20. trying to assist an injured player

sorry for the long post and i know some of it will be controversial, but i would like the feedback. this is hwat i learned.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Doug
sorry for the long post and i know some of it will be controversial, but i would like the feedback. this is hwat i learned.

Don't apologize. This is a great post! Very helpful and worth studying.

[Doug]

thanks julie, i honestly wasn't sure what i would get

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by Doug
20. trying to assist an injured player

How is this a bad thing? Are you referring to actually tending to the player medically, or staying with a player who is down when the other team has a fast break?

[Doug]

no! trying to medicaly care for them!

[Doug]

don't chew gum w/ your whistle in your mouth! bad things may result...