New mechanics changes for High school Basketball!
 

How about these at the bottom of the page? http://www.nfhs.org/core/contentmana...es_Changes.pdf THANKS! Kevin

Why are they reversing whow free throws are administered in 2 man? Is the trail getting winded going opposite tableside?

Mirroring chopping the clock? eww

So if the trail calls a foul in the forecourt and there are shots there is no switch? And after they moved the calling official away from the table this past season they want the calling official near the bench in a crew of two? I noticed that it says 2009-11 for mechanics changes. Did you type these yourself? [No I have not gone to the Fed website yet]

Aren't we supposed to be watching the players in our area?

No they are on the website!
 

I sure would not have typed these in. You were still on table side in high school 3 man last year but I dont agree with these changes. Kevin

Calling official went opposite table in 3 man for last season.

We've been doing this in Texas for a number of years and it is a much better mechanic. If the coach wants to have a word with you, you are right there. Plus, it speeds up time. When I'm lead, I bounce the ball the instant the Trail turns around after reporting the foul (they know to be ready, and I expect them to do the same). Finally, if the table has an issue, you are right there.

There's no good reason to go opposite table. The only stated reason was to get away from the coach, but I've done it both ways (a LOT) and staying there works better. I can shut down whatever behavior I need to from there easier as well.

Nope. Not by the NFHS manual. Perhaps by a directive from YOUR specific state.

The NCAA Mens official went opposite, but the NCAA Womens stayed tableside.

I think that you are confused.

Personally, I like the idea of the reporting official staying up top table side. This is the same mechanic that trail does in three man. Seems to flow much smoother.
However, I don’t like having to mirror the chop. This will take the trail's eyes off the pre-throwin action in his primary because he has to watch his partner at the end-line.

The 2-man change is to more closely match the 3-man system.

The calling official is now tableside. People can debate whether that helps or hurts with the coaches.

The 3-man change is to more closely match the NCAA mechanics.
The NCAAW's (and some of the men's officials) officials have the Trail mirroring the chop. It helps the timer who sometimes has difficultly seeing the Lead.

So if I'm reading this right, in 2-man whoever calls the foul will stay table side, but only on fouls where free throws will be shot?

I do like that the Trail goes table side for free throws like in 3-man. For officials that go back and forth between 2 and 3 man, it is easier.

As for the 3-man change, it says something about mirroring the stop and start clock mechanic. Does that man the Trail has to also put his hand up to stop the clock? I don't mind mirroring the start clock chop, but mirroring the stop clock signal is really stupid.

Only in college men
 

That rule was only in NCAA Mens not in High School unless your state did something different. Kevin

I am asking my old interpreter. It COULD be an IAABO mechanic. Which is mostly in the Northeast.

Who will have the count on free throws now in 2 man? if the trail is at the 28 foot line on the 2nd freethrow and the lead is opposite of the table now, who is watching the free throw shooter? in 3 man I always seem a little out of the loop on freethrows when I am trail on the table side. Just wondering how this is going to work on 2 man, will the trail have to be at about 17 or 18 feet like we were across from the table? if not its going to have to be a serious closedown to get position to watch on rebounding action.

I do not think anything fundamental has changed in the coverage, the Trail is just table side. At least that is my take.

I am not sure if this was intended, but as written, this would be the implication.

For those who officiated in the 80s and early 90s, it's no big deal -- back then we always put the trail "on the left".

I wonder how this is going to play out -- will we switch depending on whether we're shooting or not? If so, this change is horrible. Just have the calling official become the trail all the time - whether tableside or not. Now, if it's the sixth foul we have to switch but if it's the seventh we don't? Silly. Just silly.

You're showing your age again! :D

As I read it, the two officials will continue to switch on all fouls as normal, except if it is a shooting foul and in that case the calling official always takes the Trail position.

I just started young. I'm still south of 40. I won't be when I work my next game, though. :D

Dude this is not that difficult, there is nothing changing about the coverage areas, just flip the little lines over on your pre-game board. You cover it the exact same as you would if you were opposite the table. This has been going on in Texas now for several years. Just don't turn around and run to the other side of the court when you're done reporting...it's that simple.

Can You Hear Barbra Singing In The Background ???
 

I thought I was the only one who remembered doing that?

T in 3-Person Mirroring the L's Clock Start Signal.
 

Ask anybody who attended a Phil Bova Basketball Officiating Camp from the early 1980's on, and they will tell you that Phil was teaching this mechanic back then. If you watched a Big-10 Men's game you could tell which officials had attended Phil's camp because they would use this mechanic. I believe the NBA/WNBA have been using it for some time now and you will see it used by officials at the NCAA Men's and Women's level also. I have been using it for over 25 years (yes, I am a Phil Bova Camper, :D).

MTD, Sr.

Correct, the calling official goes opposite table was a new IAABO mechanic for 08-09 ie: NCAA-M. Our association decided to stay tableside ie: NCAA-W. Much to my dismay, next season we will go opposite in 3 person. I really like staying tableside as it makes communication with coaches/table easier. I don't like being questioned about my partners call just because I'm the closest & I don't like coaches hollaring across my court...

T chops is good, I like that mechanic!
It looks as though HS tries to adapt the best NCAA mechanics from both sides. Must be a challenge for those of you who work both levels.

As far as 2 person goes, having the calling official become tableside T on FTs is cool, but administering the FTs at L & going opposite??? How confusing is THAT going to be working back & forth from 2 - 3 person night to night?? Not sure about that one, but here's an idea. How about no more 2 person, period!!

Pretty sure this is not economically feasible.

Wishful thinking I guess :)

Yes, it was IAABO, not just our state. I remember administering the FT as trail in my first stint all those years ago. And holding the one-and-one signal with arms extended while counting with the trail finger. You guys don't know what you were missing. At least MOST of you guys.

speaking of this, we just got notice that my metro league will no longer be utilizing three at the JV level due to financial issues with the school districts. It was nice while it lasted.

I'm pretty sure that was statewide, in case that's not what you meant. :)

Did you drive a cadillac?
 

When I first started working middle school games while in college, we did this.
by the time I started back up again a few years later, it was gone along with players entering the lane on the release.

You can't go tableside all the time because where the ball is being put back in play will dictate which side of the court you will be on with only two referees.

And it wouldn't make sense for the calling official to always become the T (unless FTs are involved) because there would be no switch if the calling official is the T.

I know that.

My point is this -- I'm the trail tableside and I call a shooting foul. I stay trail, tableside (just as in 3-person).

If it's a non-shooting foul, I'm now expected to switch and become the L?

It's inconsistent and silly, but I expect that these days. At least I'll feel less guilty when I don't long switch going long 2-person next year since the whole "switch on every foul" mantra has just gone out the window.

Who cares that there's no switch? We don't switch at all in 3-person if the calling official is the tableside trail.

In 2 and 3 person mechanics, we're told to switch on all fouls (except no "long switching", of course). Told that it keeps one official from calling the same fouls all the time, etc. We were told help balance out foul calls, etc.

This is not the case in 3 person.

Rich's point is that the change in mechanics shoots down the argument that we need to switch on every foul.

Definitely not the case in 3 Person. We do not switch for a long switch in 3 person and when the Trail is already table side and the ball is in the half court, we do not switch there either.

Peace

Misty water-colored memories, Of the way we were ...
 

I believe that in my 28 years of using mostly NFHS mechanics, and more recently, IAABO mechanics, I have gone from foul shot lane rebounders leaving on the hit, changing to on the release, and now back to the hit. I keep waiting for it to change again. We already use the release for our high school private prep school games, I'm sure the public schools, and Catholic schools, will eventually follow suit.

And, yes, I do remember the Cadillac position, and I also remember working opposite. The trail was responsible to get us back to Cadillac from working opposite. Some partners weren't in a hurry as the trail, and other partners moved back to Cadillac within seconds. I guess working opposite was out of their comfort range.

Billy:

I am remember working Cadillac. Welcome to the bald old geezers club, :D.

MTD, Sr.

3-person if you're the trail tableside and call a foul and the ball is coming in tableside, where do you go? (NFHS mechanics). Right, all three of you stay where you were.

Silly, as I said.

Which is why it would be better to have the calling official always come tableside and the other two officials switch. The NBA does something like that.

Obviously, that isn't possible in 2-man. So the NFHS had to make a choice of whether it was more important to have the calling official be the Trail so he could talk with the coach or to maintain the principle of always switching the Lead and the Trail. The NFHS elected to go with the increased communication. I can see that because otherwise what is the point of putting the Trail tableside?

Never called it 'Cadillac' but I am assuming you refer to the diagonal that split the frontcourt into 2 zones of PCA.

From a coaching standpoint, I really liked the official on the table side. It really made it easy to as a quick question. I could ask and get an answer without a delay for the official to run to the other side. Here in Texas as already stated, the officials just closed down on the free throws. Looked the same to me. And if the official wanted to get away from the coach, he/she just walked 7-10 feet onto the court and take a different angle. Seemed much more convenient for all involved.

The only thing I don't like about the mechanics changes is Lead going opposite the table in 2-man and table side in 3-man on free throws. That will take some getting used to.

Like others have said, this is what is already done in Texas. I know I've never had to do it a different way like you had to, but for me, that's one of the easier differences to remember for switching between two & three person mechanics. But yes, it's one more thing to remember.

No, that is not Cadillac.

In the ancient days of two-man mechanics, when the team shooting at the basket to the right of the scorer's table had the ball, the L would be table-side and the T would be opposite the table and when the team shooting at the basket to the left of the scorer's table had the ball, the T would be table-side and the L would be opposite the table: This was called Cadillac (also call right-handed mechanics) whenever a throw-in (or a jump ball) required the officials to officiate using left-handed (opposite of Cadillac) mechanics the T would iniate a switch once all ten (10) players where in the front court and the ball was in the mid-court (look up that definition in your Funk & Wagnals, :D) area. In either case, court coverage in the front court was defined by the Block and L.

MTD, Sr.

Do you think that we should call it Toyota/Lexus now? General Motors had 50% market share at that time. Now Toyota has the premier market share number and there top of the line is Lexus.

This is a NCAA-W mechanic and I have seen it done on the mens side as well.

The term 'right-handed mechanics' I remember. It was one of those things I had to unlearn after taking 26 years off.

You are a little late to the discussion.

MTD, Sr.

Yep, see post #11.

Speaking of post #11, if the throw-in ends above the FT line extended is the T the only official who chops & below the FT line extended the T mirrors the L chop?

I doubt it -- both officials should chop

Guess I heard wrong then :confused:

Can't remember where I heard that, but I think reasoning was, say if the throw-in ends near the division line or in the b/c, how would the L know when it ended if he/she were refereeing their PCA.

Could any of you who work NCAA-W tell me where to find clarification in the manual or post it here??

The same way T knows it's been touched if the throw-in ends in L or C's PCA -- peripheral vision.

Right! But the T should indeed be looking in the L direction when the ball goes towards the hoop. The L should not be marking 3s from the top of the key or calling b/c from the endline though.

Not trying to argue with what you're telling me, just want clarification.
ie; what page of the manual can one find this info??

No change for IAABO officials
 

IAABO is not adopting this change of calling official going table-side trail on shooting fouls. It will continue to have the officials switch on all fouls, with the trail going table opposite.

Where did you hear this info?
And is it just relative to your State?

Last year per IAABO we were supposed to have the calling official go opposite in 3 person, but our association decided to wait until the '10 season.

It came from Peterr Webb, who is the head IAABO interpreter and the author of the IAABO mechanics manual, in response to my email. He said IAABO is not changing. He also said IAABO has always been table-opposite on 3-person crews.

His exact words:"As of four years ago, IAABO has its own Crew of 2 & 3 manuals. The NFHS change will not be included within the IAABO manuals."

IAABO tries to standardize its mechanics among all IAABO boards, but local deviations remain common.

Thanks!
I wonder what we're going to do... worked a 2 gm set last night (2 person) & must've forgot to stay tableside at least 5 times :(

Got the same response from my old interpreter via Peter Webb. I may be doing a handful of games if I visit up north next season. I will pay attention in pre-game.

I did wonder about CO deviating from IAABO on the table-side thing. didn't know we were changing this year. I prefer table-side, to be honest.

'10 was what the Pres said at the Masters clinic...

Tableside works for me too as I have no problem communicating with coaches. Next season there are going to be a lot of Ts for coaches pestering the non-calling official & hollaring across the court.

I think so, too. more so than we had last season, though.

Is that the 10-11 season, or 09-10?

09-10

Once And For All: The "B" Stands For Basketball ...
 

BayStateRef: Good posts. Thanks for doing the research. I have been wondering the same thing.

Curious by its absence is 'watching your own lines' on FTs.

Back To The Future ???
 

I would love to go back to this, especially now with fewer players on the lane lines.