Best way to report numbers
 

I read somewhere that we should report numbers by saying thirty-two instead of three-two (while showing the numbers), in order to eliminate confusion for the scorekeeper.

To me, that presents an equal amount of potential for confusion. Plus it sounds awkward saying "thurr" while displaying a 1, and "teen" while displaying a three.

Tonight I tried this in my junior high games..."White Thirty Two. Three-two". Only displayed the numbers when I said the "Three-Two".

Check your local listings kind of thing or is there something that works best for you?

Full number all the way

Thirty two.

A scorer doesn't look for 3-2 or 1-3 in the book. He looks for 32 or 13.

It's on page three of this season's NFHS Preseason Guide.

The NFHS instruction is to say "twenty-four," not "two-four".

Do what the people you work for and respect do.

There is no right way or wrong way really either way. I do think when you use syllable words; the table might hear the wrong thing. I have seen people say "Thirteen" and have scorers might hear the wrong number as an example and think they heard Fourteen or Fifteen.

I say each number individually and never had a problem. I have never had a supervisor care at any level. I have never been docked at a camp for saying each number. Also the CCA Manual (Men's) does not specify what to say or how to do this. The main thing is to have a strong voice and speak clearly and give the number slowly. Many officials rush through the signals which I feel is almost the most important thing we do because the number we report has many ramifications.

Peace

Murder By Numbers (The Police) ...
 

Here in my little corner of 100% IAABO Connecticut, where we use IAABO, not NFHS mechanics, we report, "Three. Two". We've been doing it that way for over thirty years. That doesn't make it right, or wrong, it's just the way we do it. "When in Rome ...".

JRutledge: I certainly agree 100% with your first statement, however I do have a slight problem with your second statement. According to Nevadaref's post, those states, and associations, that adhere to NFHS mechanics, and I realize that there are states, and associations, that don't, it appears that there is a "right way", according to the NFHS.

Yep, same folks who are afraid of coaches, so they go opposite on FTs after they call a foul. :D

Over 30 years, eh? Curious. Do you still have the T administer FTs to the FT shooter? I mean, after all, it was done that way for over 30 years. What's the point in trying a method that might be better, right? :rolleyes:

Yeah, the preseason guide was where I read it.

I didn't have any problems yesterday, but that was a small sample size. Small gym, not a lot of people, and a great table crew.

I'm at the same place tonight, so I don't anticipate any problems. For a junior high school, they have a great table crew. Better than a lot of the high schools I've worked at (at least for freshman games).

My first year or so I said "three-two". Since then I started saying "Thirty-two" and it has worked well.

The only time I mess up reporting is the one or two times a season when I report the number of the player who got fouled instead of the offender. That makes for an interesting exchange with the table crew.

A couple of years ago when I was at my first clinic, the first guy I called a foul on was number eleven. I reported it as one-one. The clinician quickly told me to always report the number, not the digits. For most numbers it probably doesn't matter, but it sure makes double numbers a lot clearer in my opinion. The table crew might stop listening after hearing the first one, and not hear the second.

For numbers like 11, 12, and the teens, I can see that. But for 22 or 32 or whatever, the scorer could get equally mixed up with hearing "twenty-two". Could hear twenty but not two.

Guess it's best to wait until you have the scorer's full and undivided attention.

And then if you say "Thirty. Three Zero" they hear "Thirty Three."

So, no matter what, there's always room for confusion.

IF there's a PA, you can listen after reporting and see if that's the same number. Since the PA is NOT the scorer, it's not perfect of course, but it's some validation that the correct number was received.

While I agree that it makes more sense to use numbers instead of digits, I don't know that this is a valid reason. If the table crew is that bad, this will be the least of your worries. And as stiffler pointed out, they're just as likely to stop listening at "twenty" as they are at "four."

There it is. It's really more about clarity than format.

When I first started, I was told to report the numeral with each digit shown. It kinda made sense, since the table only sees one number at a time when reporting with one hand. In the case of #11, I always wondered how it should be spoken as I show each digit - "e", "leven"? "elev", "ven"? Maybe say it all at once before showing the digits? Or say it after showing the digits? ...sigh...so many choices not covered by the manual... :)

Remember, this is all about communication - we are communicating to the table the number of the player charged with the foul so it can be properly recorded in the book. It doesn't matter if we say it the "proper" way, but don't speak loud enough for the table to hear. Or, I could be doing all of the "proper" mechanics, but my partners are doing it differently, and the table gets confused because of the differences. Usually the best way to communicate is through consistency, and the NFHS (or NCAA) has set up a reporting procedure so table personnel have a better chance of receiving what we are trying to communicate. But the bottom line is we still need to be able to communicate with the table.