Teach the class for new officials

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by zebraman


Like anything else new, KISS is the best policy for beginning refs. Keep it simple stupid. And no, I'm not calling you stupid.

Z

If you go to an new job and they require you to training classes, they usually do not hold anything back. They tell you all the policies, practices and expectations. Some people will pick up on them, others will be slower. Some will be naturals at their job, probably from other experiences, some will not have a clue for some time.

Originally posted by zebraman

This thread isn't about rule 2.10. It's about what to teach new officials. I wouldn't imagine we'd worry about rule 2.10 for new officials either. And I've never seen a young ref yelling and screaming or quoting rules. I've seen some veteran refs that "just don't get it" do that on a rare occasion though.

My comments about rule 2-10 or only to illustrate that when a rule mess up happens or any rule is applied, you have to not only apply it, but know what to say and how to difuse a possible bombshell. Everytime I call things like BI or GT or sometimes even an backcourt violation, you have to explain them at some point. How you deal with that is very important to your success as an official.

Originally posted by zebraman


Actually, telling them "everything" up front overwhelms them and makes them feel helpless. Note the "deer in the headlights" look when you give a new referee a laundry list of things he needs to work on. Ask him to repeat back to you what you just told him and see if he remembers more than a couple.

:-)

This is a fundamental disagreement that you and I will always have. I think this is not true at all. I think when you spend all that time trying to treat them rules and language that they have never seen, would be more overwhelming. It is much easier to teach people concepts and skills that they might already use in every day life. A teacher or a cop might understand concepts of "conflict resolution." A manager of a major retail chain, might understand "how to manage a game" better than someone that is not in management. A lawyer might understand how to read a rulebook at first. Or better yet, maybe someone that has officiated other sports. Not all rookies to basketball are first time officials. As a matter of fact, some of the best officials I have ever met and associated with, are officials in other sports.

There are long time veterans that are overwelmed by what officiating is all about. Not all people are going to be good officials regardless of what you tell them to do or not. Rules are the foundation, but the foundation does not make the house. It might help keep it up when the wind and the fire comes, but it is not going to save the house.

If I was the only one that thought this way, the state in which I live would teach rules and not mechanics, positioning, conflict resolution, and professionalism just to name a few. And when I went to all Officiating Associations I belong to, all would spend the entire time talking and going over rules. Rules study should be more about what you do on your own time or what you learn from you individual games. I have always learned more about the rules after unuusual situations happen or seeing plays or talking to other officials about their plays. And for me Rule 2-10 was not something I could completely grasp until it happen to me 3 times this past year (once in the summer, twice in the regular season). Officiating is also about dealing with the scorers' table and dealing with game management. Why not share that with people that are new?

Peace

[zebraman]

Rut,

I agree that all the things you mention are important to learn. It's just that I have seen many new refs get overwhelmed and I think it's important to keep it simple and basic at first. I have seen many new refs get buried by TMI (too much info), but I have yet to have a young ref tell me that he/she isn't getting enough info and feels as if they're being held back. If that hasn't been your experience, so be it.

Z

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by zebraman
Rut,

I agree that all the things you mention are important to learn. It's just that I have seen many new refs get overwhelmed and I think it's important to keep it simple and basic at first. I have seen many new refs get buried by TMI (too much info), but I have yet to have a young ref tell me that he/she isn't getting enough info and feels as if they're being held back. If that hasn't been your experience, so be it.

Z

I respect your opinion (as I always do) and still disagree. I see where you are coming from and why you feel the way you do, I just disagree. All officials will not learn at the same rate and all officials will not perfect the same skills at the same pace. But holding them back from information is not going to help them in my opinion.

I stated this before, officiating is one of the few things were are expected to be perfect on from day one. Give young officials the tools to be as perfect as they can be. But then again, I understand you point and I think Stripes has to consider what works or what kind of training that an official will go thru in his area.

Peace

[Camron Rust]

Originally posted by JRutledge


All officials will not learn at the same rate and all officials will not perfect the same skills at the same pace. But holding them back from information is not going to help them in my opinion.

Peace

In any endeavor, you feed the student as fast as they can absorb the information. If you flood then with everything, they will likely get overwhelmed and either give up or will not do well. If you feed them too slowly, they will get bored and develop bad habits.

All sources that I can remember say to give someone 3 things at a time to work on. When one of the items is resolved, remove it from the list and add a new one. It may be that it only takes 1 game to resolve an item, but it might take 20 games. Depends on the person.

The point, in summary, is that the feedback needs to be applied at a rate appropriate for the individual..and each are different.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Camron Rust

In any endeavor, you feed the student as fast as they can absorb the information. If you flood then with everything, they will likely get overwhelmed and either give up or will not do well. If you feed them too slowly, they will get bored and develop bad habits.

All sources that I can remember say to give someone 3 things at a time to work on. When one of the items is resolved, remove it from the list and add a new one. It may be that it only takes 1 game to resolve an item, but it might take 20 games. Depends on the person.

The point, in summary, is that the feedback needs to be applied at a rate appropriate for the individual..and each are different.

I do not understand what you are going to not tell them? I mean you have to tell them something or give them some idea what this going to be expected of them. It is not like the coaches and fans are not going to expect these things. And many officials are going to expect certain things from them. Are you not going to tell them how to handle irrate coaches? Are you not going to tell them how to be professional? Are you not going to tell them how to deal with the table? What are you not going to tell them that is essential to their jobs?

I understand that you might give them 3 things to work on, but if you are giving a class, you tell them everything that officiating is going to involve. What is the point of giving them a class and only telling them what the uniform is and how to hold their hand up during a foul? Understand when I say "everything," I mean everything that they are expected to do regardless of level. I guess you can send them out with part information and get their head handed to them when they do not do something, not because they were not good at it, they did not understand what they could do. Officiating is as much about people skills as it is knowing the rules and mechanics.

Just an opinion.

Peace

[JAdams]

On both this board and the "other" board, I have seen posts similar to "The Fifteen Most Frequently Misunderstood Rules" of basketball. Why not spend an evening discussing these with your new officials?