Pro Mechanics for NCAA Women Officials -- A Bad Idea

[Jim Dixon]

OK, so I've gone out on a limb and made my views known. Anyone want to challenge me? Any women's officials want to stand shoulder to shoulder with me? Or is it me against the NCAA world?

What’s Wrong with NCAA Women’s Mechanics? — Part I

http://basketball.officiating.com/x/article/3122

Looking forward to your views.

[rockyroad]

Not being a member of rightsports.com, I can't read the entire article, but reading the first few paragraphs makes it sound like you have three big complaints:
1)Going tableside after a call
2)The fact that these mechanics don't match anyone else's, and so we have to learn new mechanics
3)and the fact that L has a big area to cover as they rotate...

Personally, I don't see any problem with any of these things...when I work an NCAA women's game, I use the proper floor coverage and mechanics, when I work something else I use their floor coverage and mechanics...I called fewer T's on coaches this year than any other because I was right there to discuss a call with them rather than having them yelling across the court...and while L has a large area to cover, the C and T know that and there is lots of help between the 3...

I'm not really sure what the point of your articles is...do you want Women and Men to use the same mechanics? Do you just want the Women's mechanics to go back to what they were several years ago? What? Help me understand your concerns a little better than what I could get in the first few paragraphs, please...

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by rockyroad

I'm not really sure what the point of your articles is...

You never will know what the point of the article is,Rocky,unless you can read the whole thing.That's why there are no responses to this post.You can't comment properly on anything if you don't know what the heck you are supposed to be commenting on.

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Mar 27th, 2003 at 01:06 PM]

[rockyroad]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

You never will know what the point of the article is,Rocky,unless you can read the whole thing.That's why there are no responses to this post.You can't comment properly on anything if you don't know what the heck you are supposed to be commenting on.

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Mar 27th, 2003 at 01:06 PM]

Well, I did ask him to help me understand! Have you read it? Can you help me understand? Can anyone help me understand? Please??!!

[devdog69]

Well, I'll tell you what I remember about it. Mr. Dixon actually doesn't oppose the table side mechanic and it's reasoning to make us better communicator's. One of his gripes and arguments, that I remember, is that most college officials work far more high school ball than they do college ball so they aren't proficient enough with the mechanics and spend too much energy thinking instead of reacting. This is just my paraphrasing, but I think it is fairly accurate and I'm not going to go read all three one page articles again, I have a hard enough time getting through his articles once.

[Kevzebra]

I hope my article gets published that I sent to Jim. I stated alot of positives about the women's mechanics. I have been using them for years now and have gotten comfortable with them. I use some of the things learned in my HS games as well. I think that is one wants to become proficient at the mechanics, one must choose his/her place in officiating. Get enough college experience and stay there or stay in HS and get really good at that.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Kevzebra
I hope my article gets published that I sent to Jim. I stated alot of positives about the women's mechanics. I have been using them for years now and have gotten comfortable with them. I use some of the things learned in my HS games as well. I think that is one wants to become proficient at the mechanics, one must choose his/her place in officiating. Get enough college experience and stay there or stay in HS and get really good at that.

Well there are a lot of negatives if you are used to Men's Mechanics. I think that the Men's and NF overall mechanics are better. But all that is a matter of tastes.

Peace

[Bart Tyson]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JRutledge

[i]

Well there are a lot of negatives if you are used to Men's Mechanics. I think that the Men's and NF overall mechanics are better. But all that is a matter of tastes.

Peace

I can understand being more comfortable with the mechanice you use all the time and therefore thinking the mechanics you use are better mechanics. Since i started my career with NF/Mens, and now working womens, I am convinced the Women's Mechanics are better than Men's. Its not just the mechanics but also the training, and consistency of calling the game. I think the Women's side has done a better job of spelling out, what, when, where and how the game is to be called and there all three officials are on the same page. This also makes it better for the players and coaches. I see far more out of primary calls on the men's side than women's. Just one example is the "on the back call" from the "L". Men's call on the back from the L all the time. Women's side I will see a couple times a year and its from a less experienced official.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Bart Tyson

I can understand being more comfortable with the mechanice you use all the time and therefore thinking the mechanics you use are better mechanics. Since i started my career with NF/Mens, and now working womens, I am convinced the Women's Mechanics are better than Men's. Its not just the mechanics but also the training, and consistency of calling the game. I think the Women's side has done a better job of spelling out, what, when, where and how the game is to be called and there all three officials are on the same page. This also makes it better for the players and coaches. I see far more out of primary calls on the men's side than women's. Just one example is the "on the back call" from the "L". Men's call on the back from the L all the time. Women's side I will see a couple times a year and its from a less experienced official.

No matter what you or I say, this is all personal preference. Nothing more, nothing less. I have done NF, NCAA Men's and Women's games. At the end of the day I like the Men's and NF mechanics as a whole. Men's coaches tend to be more confrontational, and going right to them after calling a foul can be a test in restraint on our part. The Women's coverage area does not work in the Men's game, mainly because the game under the post is much more physical. And the Women's rotation is also kind of ridiculous for the Men's game, because Men's and HS Boy's teams tend to skip pass much more, it is silly to rotate at the rate the Women's Mechanics do. But the mechanics as a whole fit the style and substance of each game. As I said, it comes down to what you like peronally.

Peace

[Bart Tyson]

I can live with what you say. I just had one question; isn't the women's mechanics the same as the NBA?

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by Bart Tyson
I can live with what you say. I just had one question; isn't the women's mechanics the same as the NBA?

Yes. Another reason they do not traslate (in my opinion) to the college level. But most of the assignors and many officials are WNBA Officials. So they want to make the mechanics identical as possible. That is why the NCAA Men's has not adopted and probably will not adopt the NBA Mechanics.

Peace

[Bart Tyson]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JRutledge

[i] But most of the assignors and many officials are WNBA Officials. So they want to make the mechanics identical as possible. That is why the NCAA Men's has not adopted and probably will not adopt the NBA Mechanics.

Peace

At first I thought the only reason the NCAA Women's went to NBA/WNBA mechanics was because of the WNBA officials wanted to use their mechanics to make it easy for themselves. I have since learned (in my opinion) the game is officiated better using the Women's mechanics. While i do believe there are a lot of great Men's officials, I also believe Men's side could improve their game by using the NBA mechanics. Please don't misunderstand, it not the officials, its the mechanics that need improvement.

[Kevzebra]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bart Tyson

Originally posted by JRutledge

At first I thought the only reason the NCAA Women's went to NBA/WNBA mechanics was because of the WNBA officials wanted to use their mechanics to make it easy for themselves. I have since learned (in my opinion) the game is officiated better using the Women's mechanics. While i do believe there are a lot of great Men's officials, I also believe Men's side could improve their game by using the NBA mechanics. Please don't misunderstand, it not the officials, its the mechanics that need improvement.

Amen. I have said that it is the way the game is called more than the mechanics used. We in women's ball take a more proactive approach to the game (calling contact early) and it makes the game so much smoother!

[Rich]

Why is calling more contact necessarily better than not calling contact?

Does the contact provide an advantage/disadvantage situation?

Many men's officials might say that this is a PROBLEM with women's officiating.

I watched the Tennessee-Villanova game last night and there was lots of contact not called as fouls. Rightly so, I would add, in my opinion.

Rich

[Kevzebra]

Then again you have some plays in the men's game that isn't called in the first 30 min of the game then it is called in the last 3. I am saying taking aproactive approach to calling contact can lower the potential for fouling situations. The men's game is WAY too physical and needs to be reeled in a little.