Rubber Bands on Wrists of Officials

[DaBro2855]

Recently I observed several officials wearing rubber bands on their wrists as an auxlliary means of maintaining the alternating possession arrow. I would like to hear other opinions about this. I won't tell you mine.

[kmref]

This isn't volleyball! Does it work? How can you do it? At camp the evaluators want the officials to know it and not have to rely on the table. It is a skill that I am still trying to acquire.

[LarryS]

I think the rubber band is a bad idea. Players can't wear them, why should the official. I can imagine the following conversation;

Official: "Hey, number 22, you need to take off the rubber band."
No. 22: "But you have one on your wrist. Whats the difference?'
Official: "I have to wear one because I can't remember who has the next possession when there is a jump ball."
No. 22: "Isn't that what the goofy looking arrow is for on the table."
Official: "Yes, but they may forget to change it."
No. 22: "But if you're too dense to remember who has the next possession what makes you think your gonna remember to change the rubber band to the other wrist?"
Official: "Tweet!, Technical foul on 22 white for being brutally honest!"

Seriously. I am working on getting better at keeping the arrow in my head. It is easier at the JV and Varsity level than when I call JH and young kids in Rec. ball. If you must use something, I think an extra whistle or roll of mints in your pocket is better. It avoids the above conversation and you can discretely move it to the other pocket when you get to your next position or while the player is moving to the throw in location.

[ChuckElias]

The rubber band is, in my opinion, a terrible habit to get into. It looks horrible, it attracts attention, and generally just seems unprofessional to me.

The whistle or mints is a better idea, and in fact I used a spare whistle as my crutch for several seasons. I got out of the habit about 3 years ago and simply forced myself to remember the arrow. At camp this summer, a D1 assignor told us that if he observed one of his officials moving a whistle from one pocket to another after a held ball, that would be his last game in the conference.

If you simply cannot remember the arrow in your head, a better option is to get a clear (or flesh colored) plastic ring and wear it on your pinkie. Nobody can see it, and you can move it from one hand to the other without drawing any attention at all.

Just my opinion, as usual.

Chuck

[braboa]

I worked with a 20-year + veteran earlier this week who kept the PA by switching a whistle from pocket to pocket. I'm thinking it takes more effort to remember which team is which pocket so why not just check the table to make sure they switch after every inbounds. In my 3 years, whenever I have had a question about the arrow me and my partner have always figured it out (within a few seconds) and everyone is happy.

[RecRef]

LetÂ’s face it, I am having more and more senior moments.

In rec games I tend to use one but not in scholastic games as my association does not allow it at that level. In Chuck’s post he talks about using a spare whistle or mint. Like his D1 assignor, I find that to be most unprofessional. “Hay, why is that ref digging in his pants?”

A good pregame can help with this, setting up who should check to see if the arrow has changed or first set(trail).

The question does need asking, “If baseball umpires can use clickers why can’t basketball officials use something?”

[hawkk]

Originally posted by braboa
I'm thinking it takes more effort to remember which team is which pocket . . .

That part is easy: when you face the table, which direction does it point -- pick your poison; you can go with team benches, or you can do what the table does and flip your pocket at half time. And when you're doing that 5th grade girl's game with a couple of eight graders at the table, I can't imagine not having some kind of crutch (but then I did my 5th grade girls back when we threw the ball up 25 times per game for jump balls . . . which is why my crusade against the AP arrow does not include pre-HS girl's games . . . .)

[JRutledge]

If you are into the game, you should not need to keep it anywhere but in your head. You should be able to remember this just like other factors you remember in the game, despite what the table has. And the table will make mistakes. So something that I have always done when one of my mentors at the D1 level told me, "keep it on the floor." Meaning that you as an official should know what the status of the AP is during the game yourself. Using whistles to determine this or using a rubberband looks sloppy. Maybe unless you are doing a 4th grade girls game (or any girl's game) you might have more of a problem with this. But usually Boy's games do not have the amount of AP situations, it is not that hard to figure out.

Peace

[whistleone]

One thing I've experimented with is buttoning/unbuttoning the button on my back pocket to remember the arrow. As I'm facing the table, if the left pocket's open, the ball goes left. If it's closed, the ball goes right. It's a little more discreet than something in a pocket or on your wrist/hand.

Just my $.02 worth...

[AK ref SE]

I have used a whistle in my pocket for years. I think that only other officials or evaluators even know what you are doing. I have had hundreds of fans come up and asked me how i know who the next jump ball goes to so quickly. I tell them that i carry a whistle in my pocket, and i move it from side to side. I think for the most part, only other officials see tht we may change a whistle in our pocket.
JMO

AK ref SE

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by whistleone
One thing I've experimented with is buttoning/unbuttoning the button on my back pocket to remember the arrow. As I'm facing the table, if the left pocket's open, the ball goes left. If it's closed, the ball goes right. It's a little more discreet than something in a pocket or on your wrist/hand.

Just my $.02 worth...

It's more discreet to dig at your back pocket trying to get the dang button into or out of the darn buttonhole?!?!?!

Can't imagine.

[Brad]

I agree with Rut — keep it in your head.

There are plenty of things that you should keep in your head: Time remaining every time you blow the whistle (game / shot clock), AP arrow, team fouls (or at least which teams are in the bonus).

It's also good to remember a player if you have called a technical foul on him/her (since if they get a 2nd, they are gone). And it wouldn't hurt to remember that a certain player has 4 fouls, especially if the 4th one wasn't so great.

Overall, you should be aware of everything that is going on in the game and shouldn't have to rely on the table, the arrow, or a whistle in your pocket to remind you of that.

[devdog69]

Originally posted by AK ref SE
I have used a whistle in my pocket for years. I think that only other officials or evaluators even know what you are doing. I have had hundreds of fans come up and asked me how i know who the next jump ball goes to so quickly. I tell them that i carry a whistle in my pocket, and i move it from side to side. I think for the most part, only other officials see tht we may change a whistle in our pocket.
JMO

AK ref SE

Yeah, and when they come up and ask me how I know so quickly, I get to tell them that I keep it in my head and don't need that silly little arrow or any other crutch to know the situation in my game.

[Mike Burns]

Learn to keep track of it in your head. I worked with one partner though that wore a very small rubber band on his index finger....