Slowing My Whistle Down....

[j51969]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

I still use a lanyard during the regular season, but working without a lanyard during AAU season helped me tremendously.

It wasn't to showoff or anything like that. I wanted to see if I could slow down and focus instead of blowing the whistle without thinking first. It made me more cognizant of the whistle. I had to think about the whole process of blowing the whistle and then not dropping it, so my concentration was more focused on what I was doing with the whistle.

I haven't used a lanyard for quite some time. It wasn't for the same reason, but I think that makes a lot of sense. I had a guy grab my lanyard about fifteen years ago and I stopped using one then. Now it just feels weird to have it on. I will say some guys didn't like assigning me games with out using a lanyard, so I did it for those few. They didn't like the way it looked. 99% of the time I don't think anyone will even notice. I think a lot of other officials see this as kind of pretentious, and are the only people who would catch it. Personally I don’t think it is showing off. Now it’s just a comfort thing. Should anything happen to my whistle I have a spare in my pocket, which I assume most people due who use a lanyard.