Working Center Position

[rockyroad]

Rule of thumb: Go wherever you need to go to ref the play.

If you need to go high because it's a spread, then go high. If you need to step up, step up. Step down when you need to. When I have a partner who tells me something like your partner did, my response is "I got a very good angle on that drive by stepping higher. Did that create some kind of problem for you?" Usually works quite well.

As far as stepping down towards baseline on shots or rebounding - I really dislike that personally. I have found that stepping up and stepping out onto the court gives me a much better angle between the shooter and defender or between rebounders on my weak side. But it's all personal preference. If I was 6'6", I would probably be able to get good angles by stepping down. I'm not, so I don't.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Rule of thumb: Go wherever you need to go to ref the play.

If you need to go high because it's a spread, then go high. If you need to step up, step up. Step down when you need to. When I have a partner who tells me something like your partner did, my response is "I got a very good angle on that drive by stepping higher. Did that create some kind of problem for you?" Usually works quite well.

As far as stepping down towards baseline on shots or rebounding - I really dislike that personally. I have found that stepping up and stepping out onto the court gives me a much better angle between the shooter and defender or between rebounders on my weak side. But it's all personal preference. If I was 6'6", I would probably be able to get good angles by stepping down. I'm not, so I don't.

I'm which ya'.........just personal preference, the same reason I'm very deep as a lead, I get a better view.

[tomegun]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Rule of thumb: Go wherever you need to go to ref the play.

As far as stepping down towards baseline on shots or rebounding - I really dislike that personally. I have found that stepping up and stepping out onto the court gives me a much better angle between the shooter and defender or between rebounders on my weak side...

I would say good job to the OP for the willingness to move at all. There are far too many officials who want to plant their feet and stand there. What Rocky said above is true and works.

Something else to think about is stepping the opposite direction to where the matchup is going. If there is a drive to the hoop, going low will have a better chance of putting you in a bad position, but stepping high will open things up. The same thing can be said for a dribbler coming out of the corner towards the top of the key - this is a good time to step down to look through the play.