pet peeve- traveling call

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by OHBBREF

Traveling is across the board the most inconsistent call officials make in my opinion.
however if we called every travel games could run in the three hour range.
just for fin some night while watching an NCAA game on TV tick off the number of times a player lifts the pivot foot before beginning a dribble that are not called - or slides the pivot foot, or switches pivot feet quickly before taking off on a drive or shooting.

I think on the whole we are better at it but it still will take a lot more effort on everyone's including my part

Originally Posted by referee99

My take is the basic problem here is training. When new officials come into local associations in this area, illegal contact is discussed much more extensively -- I think there is an assumption that "everyone knows what traveling is".

Whether this is due to trainers own inconsistencies or understanding I don't know. Officials who are 'trained' in this fashion are off on the wrong foot (pivot or otherwise) and will be left to educate themselves.

PLUS -- the reading of the rules about what is and isn't traveling is not easy. A quick read through of the definition causes the brow to furrow. You really have to want it to 'own' the traveling rules. Then, you get to go out into the real world where clearly a significant percentage of officials don't 'own' the rule and make your way.

To confirm this statement, a couple years back (Winter 2006), I was asked to cover the travel call. Instead of a bunch of wordy situations, I elected to create about 15 - 20 short video clips. The meeting was attended by about 75 referees from one of our associations -- most are Class 1 Varsity Officials. These video clips were, relatively speaking, SIMPLE to identify. I only used one offensive player. No counts to be worried about, no other players moving about, no defensive player's feet confusing things, etc.

I simply played each clip at regular speed and asked if the play was a travel. Many of them were simple for 95+% of the officials. But, many of them required me to replay in either slow motion or frame-by-frame. In several of the cases, no more than 80 - 85% of the officials agreed one way or the other (one of them was the dreaded "bunny hop" into the shot with BOTH FEET CLEARLY ON THE FLOOR WHEN THE BALL WAS RECEIVED, followed with a small, BUT CLEAR, hop off both feet onto two feet followed by a shot OR a jab step and drive).

As an association, we have decided to expand that tape to include many more situations for our entry training classes for the 2009-10 season. I think that MOST new officials THINK that they (along with almost ALL coaches and spectators) know EXACTLY what a travel is or is not. The reality is, the call is very challenging. By grouping the video clips into a specific areas, we are hoping that we will be able to SHOW the travel calls/non-travel calls multiple times -- and test them during the class multiple times -- to make sure that we are communicating consistent messages to our newest officials.