I am an evaluator for our association (my first year doing only evaluations). I see many officials ball watching. The main reason I find for this is that the official doesn't trust his/her partner(s). Also some officials think they have to watch the ball action and not off-ball action. Usually in lower level games there is not much post play or screens happening so the official gets bored and feels they must 'help out' the partner(s). Watching PCA is a discipline we must all have in 2010.

Shouldn't the only ones watching the ball all the time be the scorer, timer, & shot clock operator?

Of course only when the ball's live or about to become live :)

This has been a good, informative and useful thread that I think will help a lot of us. I'm going to ask that you please do not start taking this thread into the realm of what the table crew, ADs, athletic trainers, concessions stand workers, cheerleaders or any other non-officials should be doing.

Thank you.

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That ...
 

Welpe: You may want to consider changing the title of your thread.

Ball watching is a difficult problem. It's too bad he couldn't give you more specifics because if you're really working on it, what you need to know is WHEN you're ball watching. Then you can target your efforts at that situation.

I find that my eyes start to wander as my mind does. If I'm tired, I ball watch more. If I'm bored, especially if there's not much going on off ball, I ball watch more. If I haven't got my head really in the game yet, I ball watch more.

Also, I ball watch a little more when the ball moves across the trouble area to my partner and when it's in the paint and I'm T. Now there are times when I want to stay with the ball in those situations, obviously, but not just out of habit.

I've found the best cure is to know what to watch instead. Simply not watching the ball is hard. But finding the closest matchups, that makes not watching the ball much easier. In three person games, I find myself checking where my area is a lot, especially early. That helps.

Also, making a conscious decision that I will not call what I see outside my area has made it easier both because it forces me to be aware of areas and because I care a lot less about what happens outside my area so I'm not as tempted to rubberneck. (However, I'm not putting on blinders. If I do see something major or non-basketball outside my area, I can still decide whether to go get it.)

@BITS....great reply. I learned a great deal more about ball watching just reading it.
@SNAGS...thanks for your tip to my reply.

@Everyone else who posted....can't wait for Saturday...4 HS age wreck games good place to start working on much of what was discussed, suggested, and shared on ball watching.
As someone said earlier...great thread.

In 2-man mechanics, I find it is a bit more necessary to be "ball aware" simply because the ball frequently goes from your partner's primary to your primary and vice versa. It is helpful to have a general idea of where the ball is when refereeing play in your primary.

For example, if the ball is at the point, the location of the action for you, as the lead, can be very different depending upon which direction the pass goes. If the pass is to your side of the court, you have sideline coverage near the ball -- you have to react to that and get in position to be able to see the sideline. In addition, there is likely to be players on the ballside block that you will need to referee. If the ballhandler dribbles below the FT line extented, the play is now in your primary. Therefore, you really need to have an idea as to where the ball is.

On the other hand, if the point guard passes the ball to the opposite wing, you are not responsible for that sideline. You are also not responsible to the dribbler should he dribble below the FT line extended. In that case, you are only responsible for what is going on in your area and responsible should the ball go over the endline (your partner will frequently be able to help you with direction if you are not sure since he is responsible for on ball coverage at the point of the pass (assuming the pass/dribble originated from your partner's primary.

We all have to see the ball at times in order to be "ball aware." I sense that the senior official was not criticizing these brief glances for this purpose. I am guessing that he was noticing that these quick glances were actually longer stares. This can happen when a team is running an open post offense -- especially if they are not doing much cutting through the lane as some teams are doing when going against a zone defense. It becomes easy for the lead to become mesmerized by the ball since there may be ZERO offensive players in the lead's primary (this usually only happens in 3-man since the lead has coverage responsibility all the way to the sideline in 2-man).

If the teams were running an open post offense, you need to continue to focus on players LIKELY to be moving into your primary if there are no players to officiate in your primary. This requires a constant scanning of the court looking for potential cutters. If you are caught ball watching in these situations, you can easily miss a backcut along the baseline (oops, end line for referees) or a backcut on the perimter that brings action quickly to your primary.

I NEVER "help my partner out" as the lead when the action is well above the FT line in a half court set with ANYTHING on ball. Therefore, there is really nothing to be gained by looking there other than for a very quick glance to be ball aware. I will help my partner out with something OFF BALL in his primary (2-man usually, but can be 3-man as well) if the ball is in his primary.

My guess is that you are staring at the ball at times while the ball is out of your primary -- purely based on the fact that the senior official made the comment. My advice is to concentrate on making only very quickly glances to the ball to be ball aware. Spend the rest of the time, doing the EXACT THINGS ANNOUNCERS NEVER DO -- look off ball anticipating situations where you are most likely going to have to referee when the ball moves via a pass, dribble or shot.

Bob,
Thanks for your excellent posts! You and many others have typed what is going on in your head during action and this has been very helpful to me!! Used something Snaqwells typed the day after I read it!

Happy New Year Officials! May your whistles be strong and your T's be calming!

What was it? Did it work?

You had mentioned not calling a foul if the fouled player had a clear layup or fast break. Sure enough, the next night I saw a slap to the arm as the player is heading to the hoop from the top of the key with no other opponents in the vicinity, I didn't call the foul and the layup was made. I am working on having a slow whistle, but it is very hard for me. I talk fast, walk fast, shoot fast with my shotgun, quickly make jokes, and have been called hyper, even though I'm 45. It is not in my nature to be slow. I do recognize its very important in officiating basketball, I took on about 15 more 6th grade games this year just to practice the slow whistle for HS games. Any tips on how to delay the whistle would be appreciated.

Keep it out of your mouth..........only for your sixth grade games. This will certainly give you that extra second. Try just holding it near your mouth when you are stationary. Also do a mental snapshot of what you saw, process the picture then blow. The sixth grade games will give you plenty of practice.

In two man mechanics, which I think Welpe is working in right now, I find that on transitions (where I'm going from T to L) I've got the ball until they pull it back out to run a set half-court offense. At that point we transition to our court coverage areas but, when the ball settles in T's PCA I find as new L that I will sometimes stay with the ball and forget to transition back to my PCA. That may be something specific to watch as when you start ball watching legitimately (like the action starts in your PCA or in a transition situation) it is often difficult to let it go.

No, you're not wrong. But there are ways to know if the shot was good without looking at the basket. :)

One more suggestion to learn watching off-ball. Record college games off TV until there is an off-ball foul call (should be at least one good solid one every game, imo). After the whistle, report, reset, stop the recording device, rewind back to well before the foul. Watch the game again until that whistle. Keep rewinding-replaying until you SEE THE WHOLE PLAY BEFORE THE FOUL and could actually blow the whistle before the officical did.

This is also a great excuse to keep watching bball on TV when the spouse thinks you should be cleaning the gutters, walking the dog or doing the dishes. "I'm studying to advance my career!"