Position on Court

[Adam]

Lead: hardly ever on the court. Rarely, if ever, when not in transition.
Trail: Move in an arc depending on where the ball is to get the best view. usually on the court.
Center: I move forward and backward depending on the ball location.

[Mark Padgett]

My position on the court is usually either supine or prone, depending on how many games I've worked in a row.

[rockyroad]

I agree with Snaqs on the positioning infoo. The rule of thumb is to go where you need to go to referee the play. So there is no (or should be no) hard and fast rule about where exactly you stand in relation to endline, sideline, etc...

As for the tip...if the ball is tipped deep into one team's backcourt, retrieved there by the team going the other way, and there is pressure on that player - you need to get back there to referee that situation. The R will need to run down and become the Lead. Other than that situation, wait until you see who has possession and then sprint to where you need to be.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Lead: hardly ever on the court. Rarely, if ever, when not in transition.
Trail: Move in an arc depending on where the ball is to get the best view. usually on the court.
Center: I move forward and backward depending on the ball location.

I could be wrong, but I took the OP to be asking about where you stand to signal after you have a whistle. I'm sure he wasn't suggesting that Lead stand inbounds during a live ball.

[bballplyrref]

two man mechanics, as the trail you should RARELY be "hugging the sideline" as most officials do. Especially, when the ball is on the opposite side of where the trail is positioned it is essential that the trail move onto the court to get the best angle of the "action area". by doing that you also leave your lead with the responsibility of taking the rest of the 6-8 players which is why two man sucks! i think there are only a few states in the country that assign two man games and CA is one of them.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by mbyron

I could be wrong, but I took the OP to be asking about where you stand to signal after you have a whistle. I'm sure he wasn't suggesting that Lead stand inbounds during a live ball.

Well, one of us is wrong.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Well, one of us is wrong.

And I'm more charitable...

[Adam]

Originally Posted by mbyron

And I'm more charitable...

True enough; but that doesn't make it more reasonable.