First Tech
 

Had to give out my first technical foul this morning...

Freshman Girls game. B1 fouls A1 in the act of shooting. B coach wants to know what for. B coach had been chirping all game, but hadn't gotten out of hand. I say to B coach "Pushing foul, coach"

I report the foul, and he asks me "where did she push her?" I say "with the body". He starts complaining, so I put up the stop sign and say "Coach, that's enough".

He then goes "ugh, what the hell".

WHACK!

No problems the rest of the morning.

Good to get that first one out of the way ;)

aaaahhhh...an easy one to start with.

And now that you've seen what a useful tool they can be, you'll be less hesitant in the future.

Last night BV game - both coaches were sitting, permanently, by the end of the first half........

Glad I had an easy one...can't wait for a diffifcult one

Question: Has the stop sign ever worked for you?

I would venture a guess it's more a formality

I ask because I know some places teach the technique, but I've never had success with it. A simple "that's enough" without the hand gesture has always worked better for me. I'm just curious, with this being your first T, if you've given the stop sign at other times when you didn't end up giving a T.

Well, it's the first time I've had to use the stop sign, so I guess it didn't work. I suppose that if we use the stop sign, we can at least say we tried to shut the coach up

Different sport I know but I've used it several times doing baseball and softball with good results. What has been your experience using it? The coach becoming more irate?

I had one I had to chuckle at this week. 7th grade girls. I call a push under the basket (lead) and as I pass the bench the coach says, "You couldn't have seen that push". I said, "At least we both agree their was one." She said, "But, well, ok." The rest of the night was fine. As good a way to start the season as 7th grade girls can be.

Some choose to use it because it shows up on the tape, others choose not to because giving someone the hand isn't generally considered a good way to communicate. I'm not telling you not to use it, I'm just doing some "research" of my own on this. I used it once when I was in Iowa, and a T followed before the ball became live.

My experience with it has been limited. I noted in another post, but I used it once in Iowa and had to follow very quickly with a T (he ran the stop sign). I've had much better success with verbal communication followed by just putting the ball in play.

I try to think of how I would respond to it, and I can't find the right word to describe it. It comes across as dismissive, I think.

I understand, though, that some use it effectively, and it's likely just another personality thing. I've just found that talking to them is much easier.

My anecdotal experience is that it's better if the sign is given fairly close to the official's body. That is, keep the upper arm close to the chest -- the elbow perhaps 2-3" away from the chest and extend just the forearm. Also, keep the hand sort of relaxed / curled. That's interpreted as "okay, i've heard you, we need to move on one way or another."

If the whole arm is extended and the hand is tense, it's interpreted as "STFU."

I think the former also helps calm the official, while the latter just gets you primed to jump on the next comment.

Bob, you make a good point. My failed use of it involved a full arm extension.

That's how I use it and it works for me more times than not. And Snaq is right, I was taught to use it because it shows up on tape and that eliminates the "He was gunnin for me and T'd me for no reason" defense.

The times it doesn't work are when the whack was inevitable. But do NOT use it if you are afraid to pull the trigger or think giving a T reflects poorly on you. Then it'll just get you in trouble and/or make you look foolish.

Good Advice ...
 

Perhaps this will show up on the NFHS Signal Chart next season?

Good Point
 

I really like this idea of not extending the arm. Simple but it changes it completely. I called a technical in a Girls 7th/8th grade game (why oh why did I let myself do MS) this past week and the stop sign was more a formality.

I was Lead, tableside, nearest the later ejected coach. He took exception to a traveling call on his player and came onto the court, nearby me on the endline to complain. I gave him the stop sign and told him "You need to go back to your bench." He said "If you missed that call, you don't deserve to be an official." Whack.

Partner then ejected him as we were administering free throws, when he came out of his seat and to the scorers table to continue to yell, after partner told him to be seated calm down.

Middle school......<shudder>

"Competitive" Middle School though, right? ;)

Got my first 2 this weekend. Partner calls foul on A5 and goes to reporting area. A5 picks up ball and throws it across the court - away from all players and myself, narrowly missing partner. WHACK! Then, the brain surgeon turns to me and, in his own defense says, "I didn't say a f---ing thing" WHACK! Coach looks at me and just nods his head. After game he tells me that this kid has a real problem with language but his mom insists he doesn't even know "those words".

Agreed. I used to give the stop sign but felt like it increased the animosity and tension in the situation because they felt I was dismissing their complaints. I now take the stern but respectful approach. I will give kind of a both palms down gesture and say "that's enough, coach" or "I heard you and we're moving on".