Football mechanic in basketball game

Many of the guys I've worked with in this area will do the fist thing to indicate we have 5 and 5 before a throw-in. We like it better than just making eye contact and nodding, or pointing and nodding.

Some guys I've worked with, when there's a minute or just under a minute left, will hold up one finger in the air to indicate such. When it gets down to the potential last second shot, the trail will pat his head to indicate he knows he has it.

Important thing is pregaming what you will use. I know the mechanics are not FED prescribed, but the state associations we work under has never come down on us about it because they would prefer communication rather than chaos.

[SmokeEater]

This is something I pregame as well.

"Make sure you and I have eye contact before placing the ball in play, I will give you a thumbs up if all is well and we are good to go. Otherwise watch for a hand signal to provide information about a game situation."

Even though these are not approved mechanics they help the game flow. Number of shots for free throws, time indicators when in last 2 minutes of game (FIBA), if foul count is getting one sided we will point with two fingers at our eyes then look at clock, and a few others. None of these are for any reason than to help make our partners more aware even though they should already be on top of it.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by SmokeEater

This is something I pregame as well.

"Make sure you and I have eye contact before placing the ball in play, I will give you a thumbs up if all is well and we are good to go. Otherwise watch for a hand signal to provide information about a game situation."

Even though these are not approved mechanics they help the game flow. Number of shots for free throws, time indicators when in last 2 minutes of game (FIBA), if foul count is getting one sided we will point with two fingers at our eyes then look at clock, and a few others. None of these are for any reason than to help make our partners more aware even though they should already be on top of it.

I agree about a signal for 2 minutes remaining. In fact, I think it should be done anywhere 2:30 and under. That way, we all know ahead of time of the upcoming timing changes.

In addition, a regular partner and I invented some signals when we officiate games that has special drop-back rules. Once a team leads by 15, then must drop back to half - iow, there are no full court presses. When a team earned a spread of 15+, we would give a "not closely guarded signal" which made us on the same page that no press was permitted. If the losing team then scored to change the lead to the other side of 15+, the signal was pressing two palms together. So basically, anytime that the full-court status changed, we signalled. In the 5 years we've been doing this mechanic in games with these special rules, I do not recall once having a problem.

[JRutledge]

I either point or use a thumbs up to let my partner know that I am ready, which usually means I have counted players or we do not have subs to come in. It is not a "prescribed" mechanic, but there are a lot of things we do that are not prescribed. Now your partner's exact signal might have looked a little goofy on the basketball court, but I do not see why this would be a big deal to anyone other than it looked goofy. Are you saying that we should not give a single to each other just because it is not in a book somewhere?