I'm a Ball Watcher...
 

"Watching balls go by."

Well according to a fellow official that was waiting for his game after mine, I was doing a bit of ball watching outside of my PCA. He didn't offer any specific details after I asked but said he noticed I was doing it at both lead and trail. We don't often get other officials observing us so this is good information to hear. I thought I was doing a good job of focusing in my area too as I was picking up off ball contact and talking with the post players at lead but maybe not as well as I thought.

Does anybody have any tips to ensure you are staying in your PCA?

A couple of situations where I'm wondering if my fellow official noticed what I was doing and felt I was ball watching too much. I'd appreciate any feedback on these:

I've been trying to feel out where the ball is to know if I should have on-ball coverage or not by using occasional, quick glances towards the ball. Is this a bad idea?

Also, I find while at lead and a player attempts a 3-point shot, I will mark the attempt, follow the shooter up and down and then take a quick glance to the basket to indicate if the shot is successful or not. I then look back to the shooter to see if there's any late contact. Should I be doing something different here?

Thanks!

GJV yesterday. My partner was definitely ball watching. He called a held ball in my PCA that I was passing on because one player was pulling the ball out. He killed the play :mad: . At halftime I mentioned that I was intentionally passing on the call in my PCA. He started to get defensive/explain his side of it. I dropped it and didn't give him any other input. Second half, we had two double whistles. FIrst one, we came togewther and without hearing his side I firmly said, "Its my Primary, we're going with a foul, not a travel." Second one I didn't even get with him when when he called held ball, I just said out loud, "No. I had a travel first." He never got any of the hints. Hope I don't see him again this year. Nice guy. Poor ref.

Ball watching means you're following the ball and not your PCA.

It sounds as if you're almost trying to NOT see the ball. There's no reason for that. Knowing where the ball is and being able to see it is not ball watching. You should stay wide enough to officiate your area but still be able to see the ball in most situations and offer your partner(s), help if needed.

You either have the shot or the shooter, not both. Trust your partner(s).

We have 1 evaluator in our area that always says we all are ball hawking. This is from the very best officials we have to the ones working their first varsity game. When I started hearing this I started watching guys, and I think this is part of the problem. 1) yes sometimes guys do watch the ball, and should concentrate on PCA, but not always. There are times that the ball is "behind" your PCA and while watching the PCA you also are "facing the ball" giving the perception that you are watching it while in reality, it just happens to also be in your line of sight.
IMHO

Welpe - I find that I get into the "bad habit" of ball watching when I do a lot of Wreck Ball with none-so-experienced officials.

I find when I get to my HS games a good pregame gets my mind straight and I work really hard in that area. Sometimes I catch myself and concentrate real hard not to do it....and of course my partners will tell me if I'm having issues in that area. ;) It's an area of my game I constantly work on.

For me; More Rec = More Ball watching. :(

Watch the defense and find competitive match-ups in your primary. Find the numbers of the defenders in your primary and know what they are doing.

[QUOTE=Welpe;647387Does anybody have any tips to ensure you are staying in your PCA?[/QUOTE]

Make some "play-byplay" announcer talk to your self. "Her's blue 21 coming to set a screnn -- that was legal. Now blue 21 is rolling to the basket --white 15 is contacting him but not impeding -- no foul. Oh -- they're getting ready for a rebound -- blue 13 has good position. White 3 has his hands in blue's back -- there's the displacement and no rebound. Tweet."

I confess, I find myself doing it from time to time. Hard habit to break

I agree with Bob. Talk with yourself. One of the outstanding college officials that worked with me this summer stood behind me and talked outloud so I could hear what he "would be saying in his head". It's improved my game tremendously, especially on traveling violations.

-Josh

I was under the impression that in 2-person mechanics, that if the three point attempt is in your primary, you are responsible for indicating if it is successful or not. Am I wrong about that?

Thanks folks for the feedback, that is just what I was looking for.

Start In PCA to Stay In PCA
 

Try this:
Make an effort to start in your PCA in order to more regularly stay in your PCA. Emphasis upon "start."
Upon setting up in your initial position, be it L, C, or T, manually, subtlely, and briefly raise your arms so that they each point down the approximate line of the left and right borders of your PCA. Then say to yourself, "I've got this area right here." When setting up as C, say to yourself, "I've got the action on this side of the court." In other words, once you've established for yourself the area that is your primary, it's easier to focus on that area while remaining aware of where the ball is outside of your PCA as necessary.
The problem many may have (and me, too, until doing this every time) is that they initially set up with their eye on the ball outside their PCA, then never get a chance to determine the approximate borders of their PCA. They start outside their area and never get themselves back in. They start out ill-focused, and keep that ill-focus throughout whatever play develops thereupon. They get caught up in the game and never draw their focus into their PCA until something happens there, and then it's often to late to observe a play develop or see what's been happening that demands attention.
Do this not only when the ball changes ends, but upon each rotation also.
Stay in your PCA by visually establishing for yourself your PCA upon setting up on every play.
Might be overly simple, a bit ridiculous or it might not work for others. But it works for me. And, as always, I'd be interested in any critique to this method that may come along in response.

Sounds like a good checkpoint to reinforce yourself on your area. Whatever works.

Bob/Josh
Thanks for a great tip. As a 2nd yr. it's a part of my game where I no where close to being pleased with my progress in this area.
However, I've learned from reading some of the vets replies to the OP, that it's something that even the very experienced refs can slip into, and that evaluators at all levels are looking to see if you're guilty of doing it....whether they're evaluating newbies like me or seasoned vets.

I'm still working on it, and find myself slipping now and then. One thing I'm trying to do is constantly remind me of where my PCA is. Another thing I'm working on now is, if I see something outside my PCA, I don't call it.

Yes. Also the trail will mirror the lead's sucessful 3 point goal signal.

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!"