Elementary Question

[ChuckElias]

Hi Slim.

Couple of questions. Are you reffing these games by yourself, or do you have another official? Also, if you are by yourself, where are you standing while the rebounding action is going on?

Ideally, you should have another guy to help you ref. That way, one of you can watch the ball to see if it goes in and the other one can ignore the ball and watch the guys who are rebounding. That's really the best way to see who initiates the contact.

If you're by yourself, it's tougher. If you're reffing alone, you should probably be standing around the free throw line extended. In other words, if the free throw line continued all the way to the sideline, you'd be standing where the two lines meet. This makes it more difficult to see the bodies under the basket, though.

Without knowing a little more about how you do things, it's tough to offer concrete advice. But I would offer this. As much as possible, during rebounding action you should watch the rebounders instead of the ball. It might not always be possible, but if you try it as often as you can, it might help. Good luck.

Chuck