Summer Ball
 

What do you guys like to focus on during summer ball? Mechanics? Beginning to get back in shape? Judgement?

D). All of the above.

I try to treat every game the same and give them what they pay for - no matter how much they pay. Seriously.

That being said, I like to work on things my evaluators have told me I need to improve on. And for me, currently, that is - slow down, use crisp mechanics, and watch the game interupters.

seeing more plays
mechanics
patient whistle
game interrupters
communication with partner
watching my area only

I don't have to watch anything!
 

In a tournament last weekend I had four games with a particular partner during which I didn't need to watch anything. We had two whistles on every on-ball call in my primary. It was fantastic. :eek:

For me, I find working on mechanics fairly difficult during the summer because of the nature of the games and my partners. Generally less formal. So I tend to focus on other things to challenge myself.

1. Sprinting hard (even though my partner may not) to keep myself in reasonable shape.
2. Good time to try something new or work to improve mechanics that don't depend on your partner like signals etc...
3. Focus on keeping track of arrow in your head so you won't need to peek at the table
4. Keep track of team fouls so you will know when the bonus is in effect before the table tells you.

Hot moms in shorts. :)

good ones

Clock awareness is a good one to work on. With different leagues having different timing rules it is a good habit to make sure the clock is running when it should be and stopped when it should be. It is just a good habit to get into, especially if you work with a shot clock during your season. It is never a bad idea to know what time is on the clock when whistling a play dead or resuming play
Also, you can spot the hot mom's in shorts while looking at the clock

clock...

score (not like THAT, but I make sure team who scored gets the right points..learned early on in summer league that you can NOT trust the table, even with THIS)...

when I started, i was taught after every basket, to glance at the scoreboard for time purposes, correct oints, etc. leanred this summer to pay even MORE attention with 16 yr olds at the table texting/chatting on their phones instead of working!!

off hand mechanics...

'communicating' with coaches :eek:

still watching my primary, being more aware of secondary and being aware of what my partners are calling without watching THEIR area too...

What is a "game interrupter"? :confused:

A ball bounding over from an adjacent court.

Also known as a career-stopper.

OK, I'll Play - Seriously
 

I know we have talked about this before.......

Sometimes I get critiqued for stopping the game when I shouldn't - a quick whistle if you will or a game interrupter as told to me (maybe better game management, patient whistle, discretion, or experience are better terms).

An example of one I have done several times and need to be better at (as told to me by my evaluators). A1 has the ball in his backcourt and is defended by B1. A1 does a crossover dribble and goes by B1. B1 fouls A1 by bumping him off his mark on the way by changing A1's speed, rhtyhm, and direction. But, after a second or so, A1 has "played through" the contact and is going down court. Me - TWEEET! :mad:

As asked to me - "why?" I have "interrupted the game" or penalized A's ability to play through the contact (even though at the time B's contact caused B an advantage) and now I have brought the ball back to the spot to inbound, therefore taking away A's advantage.

I've gotta be more patient!

See grunewar's definition above. However, when I used the term, I was thinking something completely different. i.e. paying closer attention to who and where ball will be inbounded as a result of a time out. Game re-set stuff.

All of the above and more.

But most of all it is an opportunity to see plays over and over and over again. And when the regular season starts you are not surprised completely by things that may happen. Then again it takes years to see certain plays enough, but summer can add to your experience.

Peace

All good things to work on. I'm looking forward to being evaluated. I haven't been formally evaluated since the first game of last season.

Or it could be a play where the is not a good time to call something or the play that we are calling does not exist. I hear this used much more about plays where there is nothing or not appropriate.

For example I have heard people say calling 3 seconds when the ball is on the rim, two seconds late.

Peace

A hot mom in really tight shorts. ;)

Sooooo....a "game interrrupter" is really calling illegal contact for something that was incidental contact? Seeing that incidental contact versus a foul for illegal contact is always a judgment call, what are they really teaching you here?

Why not just say "Hey you, read the rule book and follow NFHS rule 4-27". For instance re: for the red-highlighted part above, replace that with R4-27-3--"Similarly, contact which does not hinder the opponent from participating in normal defensive or offensive movements should be considered incidental." That concept would seem to be a helluva lot easier to teach someone imo.

You're right that the key is being more patient. But all your evaluators are really telling you is to just take a second longer to decide whether the contact was incidental or illegal. Why not just say that to the person being evaluated? Iow, KIFSS!

Game re-set stuff? As in what game re-set stuff? :confused:

I don't have a clue as to how "game re-set stuff" can be a "game-interrupter". Can you explain?

Ah yes, the true game interrupter.

A bad or wrong call!

Finally, I see the light. :D

Ed Zackery!
 

Hence, something I need to work on - and I know it. Which is important to me.

Of course you say it so much more eloquently than my evaluators.....:p

Uh oh, I've awaken the junk yard dog. And the fangs are OUT! :)

/running away as fast as I can

Alternatively, you could answer his question. I'm just as confused by your answer.

experience has taught me there is no "right answer" in when the junk yard dog calls you out

for you snaq, i'll re-answer: where the ball will be inbounded following a timeout.

Naw, not more eloquently. Just simpler imo. I wasn't trying to be a wise-azz but that term "game interrupter" causes more confusion than anything else being taught in my experience. They tried to teach me the concept of having a patient whistle many moons ago. The concept hasn't changed but they keep coming up with new ways to explain it.

In my experience, most of the time that an evaluator tells someone they called a "game interrupter", all that they're really saying is that you made a wrong call. They should explain to you at the same time exactly why they thought that you made a wrong call. And in the case that you stated, it was because you didn't wait that extra half-second to see whether anyone was really getting an advantage through that contact. That's teaching...and learning.

Again, jmo.

And the question from the junk-yard dinosaur is "does that mean a game interrupter is really a screw-up by an official?"

yes

I'm not sure how that is a "game interrupter." Are you talking about when the official simply inbounds from the wrong spot, or when they get confused and delay the inbound while they play pocket pool?

And that's basically all that I really tried to say in previous posts.

If the evaluators can make it sound more complicated, then you're more likely to think that you need them. ;)

I believe the Latin for Game Interrupter is Gamus Interruptus
This is caused by the need to have a more patient whistle or calling something that is 'out of context' or a head scratcher based on the calls prior.

Or pay that hefty camp fee.

Summer ball is in full swing here. It is great for me to get some decent cardio in in some gyms that don't have air conditioning. I am working on judgment and having a patient whistle. I was at a camp a few weeks ago and a number of campers were lambasted for calling too many "And 1's". The evaluators point was " If the contact was THAT significant then they wouldn't have made the bucket". Obviously this isn't always true but I played it through in my head and I know I could have swallowed my whistle on a number of plays over the years. Getting a chance to officiate some university kids playing summer ball to keep in shape using a 2 man crew is interesting though.

yes

Joy (sarc)
 

And I did two B15U games last night by myself......:mad:

Now, to go back to writing my assignor a note.......

Where was justacoach when you needed him?

Quit whining. JRut could do 10 one man games consecutively w/o breaking a sweat. Of course, he'd just stand at half court. :D

One Man Band ...
 

Maybe he could get one of those ladder things that volleyball officials use to work their games. Wait a minute. Did I say "work"? I should have said "officiate" their games.

True Dat!
 

or his boys!

Coach was probably at home taking a nap! :rolleyes:

The one huge drawback for most summer leagues is working 2 person. We try to work 3 person as much as possible.

One of the best ideas I've heard in a long long time.

Summer is a great time to try out stuff you wouldn't normally do. Try a different approach to handling an irritating coach. Talk to players more. Try working wider or closer in at L. Try moving more or less at T. Try being bigger or smaller. Try to appear more deliberate or relaxed. Try out that super cool quadruple tweet thing you heard somebody use. Let 'em play more or tighten up more, and see what happens. Find a kid who lacks confidence and try using your demeanor and a little humor to give him/her a boost. Work on your partnering skills and focus on making a weaker partner better. Talk to a parent or two between games and ask them about their kid. Try working without a lanyard.

The idea is to stretch yourself in new ways and directions. If you make mistakes while doing it, it's only summer ball and nobody is going to care that much. If you don't make mistakes, you're not trying hard enough. ;)

All this assumes, of course, that you are already capable of calling a decent game and don't really have to focus all your energy on reporting mechanics or calling travels.

Just my $0.02

Good advice Bits.

Last night I forgot my little "AP Arrow" helper. So I concentrated on knowing who got next posession with some of the tricks learned here.

Also had a younger, less experienced partner last night and worked on remebring certain plays/times to use as helpers for him to get better too.

I like the working with "lesser talented players" suggestion, I'll use that too.

[QUOTE=Back In The Saddle;686229]Summer is a great time to try out stuff you wouldn't normally do. Try a different approach to handling an irritating coach. Talk to players more. Try working wider or closer in at L. Try moving more or less at T. Try being bigger or smaller. Try to appear more deliberate or relaxed. Try out that super cool quadruple tweet thing you heard somebody use. Let 'em play more or tighten up more, and see what happens. Find a kid who lacks confidence and try using your demeanor and a little humor to give him/her a boost. Work on your partnering skills and focus on making a weaker partner better. Talk to a parent or two between games and ask them about their kid. Try working without a lanyard.

The idea is to stretch yourself in new ways and directions. If you make mistakes while doing it, it's only summer ball and nobody is going to care that much. If you don't make mistakes, you're not trying hard enough. ;)

All this assumes, of course, that you are already capable of calling a decent game and don't really have to focus all your energy on reporting mechanics or calling travels.

Just my $0.02[/QUOTE

I would rather work on items that you are going to use doing the season and get really good at those. I don't know if I would work on everything and try a ton of new things...sometimes we tend to pick up bad habits during the summer and they carryover into the season.

I agree I am not experimenting with much of anything unless it is something that I have been told I should add and I see the value in it. But I want the summer to be as normal as possible considering that there are almost never going to be all the same mechanics when it comes to switching or foul reporting.

Peace

Walk And Chew Gum ???
 

Tried it once, and only once. Kept on spitting it out. I got tired of picking the whistle off the floor, so I went back to my lanyard in the second half. We have a few "old timers" that don't use a lanyard. I guess that it takes talent, coordination, and a lot of practice.

I know one guy who does it, and he's not an old timer.

He looks silly sticking the thing in his belt to report fouls, IMO.

Hey BNR, guess who I worked with tonight?

Yep, the 4th best ref in his house! :p

Good fun!!

Speaking of not having a whistle around your neck...
 

I was told this story when I joined the board of our local kids rec league 18 years ago. It seems that about two years before that, we had a 3rd grade boys game which started on a Saturday morning at 8:15 and the two scheduled refs didn't show. This was before everyone had cell phones and they didn't have access at the school to the area where there was a pay phone, so they couldn't call the ref scheduler before the game started. As per league policy, there was a board member at the game. He decided to referee, even though he'd never done it before. He didn't have a whistle, so when he wanted to stop play, he threw his open hand in the air and yelled "STOP". It worked OK, especially since games at that level were (and still are) running clock.

The game was over at about 9:00 and he had someone drive over to a nearby drug store which opened then (this was before we had any 24/7 Walgreen's in this area) and buy a cheap whistle (no lanyard available). The same guy used a pay phone (remember those?) at the store to try to call the ref scheduler, but he was working a game at a gym. The board member used the whistle for another game, and refs finally showed up to work game three. They had no idea what happened to the guys who were supposed to work the first two games.

The board member who worked those games talked about it for years as an example of how you can improvise when necessary.

Even though it was "just" a 3rd grade game, I'd hate to try to work it without a whistle.

Hmmmm.......
 

I know you're on the west coast and I'm on the east coast, but I wonder if this technique will work when I start to read some of your "bizarro basketball experience" stories?

bwahahaha! :D

Why don't you put a lanyard around your neck and pull it really, really tight! ;)

We already have at least one apparently person here whose brain is apparetnly deprived of oxygen.

Two thoughts:

1. If an official still needs work on the basic skills, then my suggestion isn't for him. My suggestion is aimed at the "I've got the basics, now what?" crowd. Also I try not to set aside my core skills when I work summer ball. What I'm doing is in addition to my normal game, and summer is rife with opportunities because honestly most summer games don't challenge us the way regular season games do.

2. I threw out several examples, mostly to illustrate the idea. I wouldn't try all of those at the same time. Much of my experimenting has been more opportunistic. Have an early Saturday morning game and everybody's half asleep, that's a perfect time to work on projecting a little energy and talking to players. You've got an irritating coach and your usual tools aren't helping much, maybe you hold off with the warning and/or T and try something different. There have been an absolute ton of thoughts on how to handle coaches presented here over the years, and I'll bet there are some you've filed away under "I should try that some day". Summer ball is "some day".

As for sticking to things you'll actually use during the regular season, I have incorporated several of my successful "experiments" into my regular season game. They're not core skill stuff, but some are useful tools to have in my box for specific situations. But I am not suggesting that anybody experiment with weirdo stuff that he would never use in a "real" game. Unless you're really bored and just having a little fun ;)

That must be what's causing your poor spelling and grammar. :D

Nobody's said it yet, but I would think working without a lanyard would make it easy to violate the First Rule of Officiating.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie ...
 

There was a very good reason why nobody "said it yet".

But it is completely in keeping with the spirit of that rule. ;)