Adjusting to co-official's style

[Sleeper]

Made it through my first scrimmage today (man, that's a relief) and I have my first question: How do you adjust to your partner's style of calling?

I called with three different veteran officals during the scrimmage. The first called a high percentage of violations/fouls, the second called a medium to high number and the third was a "no blood, no foul" official. I was pretty comfortable with the first two, but wasn't with the third. I felt like the quarter got out of control (boy's varsity, both good teams and physical play), but I didn't want to be calling a different game from my co.

I need some suggestions on how to deal with this from some of the veterans on the board. Thanks in advance for the help.

[JRutledge]

Just call you game. Do not try to "mirror" or adjust your game to other officials. You will find yourself calling things that are not there, or you could have passed on. If the assignor put you there, you should just try to call what you see. Most importantly, if you are calling your own game or working your primary, you will not be able to know or understand every call your partner makes. Just call your game and discuss at halftime or during timeouts what each of you are seeing. But do not just call something because you partner made that call. You partner might be wrong. Then you will be wrong by making another call that "mirrors" them.

Peace

[Tim Roden]

A lot is confidence. Do you have the confidence to call the game the way it is being called. If you don't like the way it is called, take a deep breath and blow on that little black thing in your mouth. Know what you will call a foul on and what you won't. It is not a matter of the partner calling or not calling. That is why we switch on fouls. So you both have a chance to make calls. Each game is different. I sometimes tell the captains, "We will call the game as it is played. If you play basketball and make an effort to put on a good show, we won't interupt the game. If you decide you want to play rough, then so will we. We can blow the whistle all night long if that is what you want."

I have called games that have a total of 10 fouls and I have called games that have a total of 60 fouls. It is all a matter of the game being played that night. My partner has nothing to do with it. He is my partner and we talk during the game. We get on the same page and we know what we are looking at. If we have a problem, we address it. If the game is going well, we pat ourselves on the back and we don't spoil a good game. As veteran, I am responsible to make sure that we do talk. As the non veteran, I ask questions of the veteran. I want to talk during timeouts and at halftime and find out what we are doing right and wrong. Should we tighten, should we loosen our calls? Is it right? As you gain experience, you gain confidence on how you handle the game. You will become more adept at finding the right feel for the game. Have a good season.

[just another ref]

I agree that you should concentrate on calling your own game and not adjust to fit your partner. I think the main problem is when you get the "no blood, no foul" guy you must resist the urge to call the whole game yourself. If you reach across the court to make a call that is blatantly wrong, you will catch even more heat than he will for calling nothing. The line that goes through my mind in this case is: "I think that was a foul, but if he can't call it from there, I sure can't call it from here."

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by just another ref
I agree that you should concentrate on calling your own game and not adjust to fit your partner. I think the main problem is when you get the "no blood, no foul" guy you must resist the urge to call the whole game yourself. If you reach across the court to make a call that is blatantly wrong, you will catch even more heat than he will for calling nothing. The line that goes through my mind in this case is: "I think that was a foul, but if he can't call it from there, I sure can't call it from here."

It should not matter one bit what kind of foul your partner is calling or not calling. You could have the official that calls everything imaginable and you still have the same problem. Just call your own game. It will be apparant who belongs and who does not. Coaches will know who belongs (at least good ones) and will not necessarily hold it against the officials that are doing there job. Despite what many would like to admit, coaches at many levels have great influence over what happens to an official's career. If the coaches like what you do, there is not a whole lot that can hold you back. If the coaches hate you, it can make that rise a very short one. And if you call a game just to mirror a weak official, you might get lumped into that description.

Peace

[bigwhistle]

Originally posted by JRutledge
[B
It should not matter one bit what kind of foul your partner is calling or not calling.
[/B]

Ever hear of consistency amongst the crew during a game? The lack of consistency is a bigger problem to coaches than whether or not the game is called loose or tight. They, and the players, have the right to expect the same kind of game to be called by the entire crew. While some of our "esteemed bretheren" here will disagree with this, the crew must be willing to make compromises in order to let the game be played on a level scale.

Some nights you may be the official out of synch that needs to adjust...some nights it may be a partner. This needs to be addressed and corrected...hopefully before half time. If not, then you think you are bigger than the game. If that is the case, maybe you should look for some other way to spend your "avocation" time, since the game will be here long after you, me, or anyone else has gone to greener pastures.

[Sleeper]

I accept the premise of crew consistency. We try to do that in football as well. My question for that would be, as a green, rookie official, how do I tell an experienced partner that they need to call a tighter game. I don't want to get the reputation as a "know it all", but I also want the game to be safe and under control.

The other option is to call what I believe is my game and risk the perceptions that go along with calling a disproportionate number of fouls.

I am just trying to get a feel for the best, most professional way to handle a situation that I know will come up again. It was very uncomfortable to be caught off guard, I would like to try to mitigate that feeling by knowing how to approach it. Above all, I want to do a good job.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by bigwhistle


Ever hear of consistency amongst the crew during a game? The lack of consistency is a bigger problem to coaches than whether or not the game is called loose or tight. They, and the players, have the right to expect the same kind of game to be called by the entire crew. While some of our "esteemed bretheren" here will disagree with this, the crew must be willing to make compromises in order to let the game be played on a level scale.

Consistency? I am suppose to make up calls for the effort of consistnecy? So if my partner makes a handcheck call and another player does not make a handcheck, I am suppose to call something in the effort of consistency. I have heard of some strange things, but this almost takes the cake. If you or any official is making calls that are totally wrong, it is not my job to match them. If I can tell why every call is being made what the heck am I doing? I have been doing 3 Person games for nearly 7 years. If I have learned anything is to trust your partner and to stay in your primary. If I am staying in my primary, I will not see all my partner's calls at all. Better yet, if I would have done what you suggest in my Men's college game yesterday aftenoon, I would have missed more than half the game. They move so fast and things are happening every split second, I could not affort to "match" my partner. I assume that the assignors think they are qualified to be there. I think I need to trust their call, just like I would expect them to do the same.

Originally posted by bigwhistle

Some nights you may be the official out of synch that needs to adjust...some nights it may be a partner. This needs to be addressed and corrected...hopefully before half time. If not, then you think you are bigger than the game. If that is the case, maybe you should look for some other way to spend your "avocation" time, since the game will be here long after you, me, or anyone else has gone to greener pastures.

I have worked for a lot of different assignors. I have have been to many different camps. I have worked with guys that are at the D1 level all the way down to the State Finals level, and I have never had any of those officials suggest doing any such thing. So I will conclude from that and that alone that no one in their right mind would suggest doing such a thing. If officials that are much more successful than I am are not suggesting doing something like this, than I can assume that they reached those levels not doing anything like this in the name of the almighty "consistency."

Funny how someone can tell me what works. But I guess that is why you are the bigwhistle.

Peace

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Sleeper
I accept the premise of crew consistency. We try to do that in football as well. My question for that would be, as a green, rookie official, how do I tell an experienced partner that they need to call a tighter game. I don't want to get the reputation as a "know it all", but I also want the game to be safe and under control.

The other option is to call what I believe is my game and risk the perceptions that go along with calling a disproportionate number of fouls.

I am just trying to get a feel for the best, most professional way to handle a situation that I know will come up again. It was very uncomfortable to be caught off guard, I would like to try to mitigate that feeling by knowing how to approach it. Above all, I want to do a good job.

This is why we go to camps. This is why you read up on the rules. This is why we watch other officials work. And this is why we go to and join association meetings. You learn from other officials how to call the game and what to call and what not to call. You start calling things just to mirror other officials that you are working with, instead of the coaches and evaluators saying, "official A is not good," they will say, "this crew is not good." I believe in consistency, but consistency is better served when you try to be consistent yourself first. If you are that worried about consistency as a crew, find guys that you only want to work with. Other than that, have a good pregame. Figure out what the other guys call, but to adjust on the court might be too late. I have done many 3 Person games and there are games when one official is calling everything or one official is not a factor. That comes with the territory. There are many times that in a 3 Person game that nothing happens in one official's primary. Just work hard and call your own game.

Peace

[just another ref]

[The other option is to call what I believe is my game and risk the perceptions that go along with calling a disproportionate number of fouls.




Disproportionate to what? Each trip down the floor must stand on its own. Proportions of fouls are things that coaches worry about.



[Edited by just another ref on Nov 10th, 2002 at 11:36 PM]

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by just another ref


Disproportionate to what? Each trip down the floor must stand on its own. Proportions of fouls are things that coaches worry about.

That is not entirely true. At least it depends on the kind of game. Many times you do not want to call things that do not need to be called. Evaluators will often time give officials credit for things they do not call as well as the things that they do call. I agree that every trip has its own identity, but you can put yourself in the game when it is not needed by making too many calls. You also can sometimes not put yourself in the game enough.

Peace

[just another ref]

Originally posted by JRutledge
[[/B]

That is not entirely true. At least it depends on the kind of game. Many times you do not want to call things that do not need to be called. Evaluators will often time give officials credit for things they do not call as well as the things that they do call. I agree that every trip has its own identity, but you can put yourself in the game when it is not needed by making too many calls. You also can sometimes not put yourself in the game enough.

Peace [/B][/QUOTE]


It definitely depends on the kind of game. One can certainly make too many calls or not enough calls. But with regard to proportions, I just mean:

1. If team fouls are 12 to 2, don't let that make you look harder for foul #3.
2. If you have called 4 fouls while never leaving one end of the floor, don't let that make you sit on the 5th one.
3. If you know a player has 4 fouls, don't look for the 5th, but don't look at the ceiling to avoid the fifth.
4. etc.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by just another ref



It definitely depends on the kind of game. One can certainly make too many calls or not enough calls. But with regard to proportions, I just mean:

1. If team fouls are 12 to 2, don't let that make you look harder for foul #3.
2. If you have called 4 fouls while never leaving one end of the floor, don't let that make you sit on the 5th one.
3. If you know a player has 4 fouls, don't look for the 5th, but don't look at the ceiling to avoid the fifth.
4. etc.

I totally agree with that. But that is why in my opinion you have to just call your game. You never want to just avoid making a call because it might not go over well, but you also do not want to go looking for things that are not present either. That is why you have to call your own game.

Peace

[just another ref]

There is sometimes an adjustment in the other direction.

Situation: 8th grade girls game, middle of 3rd quarter

Team A 43 Team B 7.....Team B's point guard has been called for traveling 19 times. On the 20th time and for the remainder of the game it is acceptable to allow her an extra half step or 3 while chanting to oneself "There's no
place like home, run clock, run."

[Tim Roden]

In your situation as a rookie. You will be calling Junior high games that will be a lot tougher to call then the varsity games you just worked. At the varsity level there is an expected level of consistancy in the officiating. There is a consistancy in the play of the players. At the Junior high level things can be different. For example. I had one night where traveling was not called all night. Was traveling there, you bet. But for the sake of consistancy we set the criteria at four steps before we called anything. This kept the flow of the game going and the coaches did not have a problem with it. If we had lived on that standard for a varsity game, we would have been booed to the other end of the state. The thing is you must communicate with your partners as to what is and what isn't exceptible tonight.