+1

First time I encountered this (as L), I stepped out to see what my partner was stopping the game for. Then, he was confused, wondering why I wasn't starting play promptly. Happened twice in same game, sort of keystone kops moments.

Comments here about pre-gaming it ought to do the trick.

Sounds like a smart guy. :)

But hasn't that always been the case? How did timers handle this before the mechanic change?

I understand that, and I believe most good officials can handle it that way. But I have 2 problems - I believe less experienced officials will be more inclined to ball-watch, and it still won't help start the clock correctly if the L isn't being seen. How does the T see the tip on the inbounds pass if they aren't watching either the ball or the L directly?

I believe most timers watch the ball and start the clock when they see it inbounds, and don't watch the chop from the administering official, no matter where the ball is inbounded. I've also seen many delays between the chops of the L and T, so I know they aren't always seeing the same thing.

In 3-person, the C can still handle a lot of the off-ball activity, but the T has more responsibility in 2-person. It just seems like an unnecessary mechanic that may promote more bad habits than problems it corrects. JMHO.

Hopefully the Trail isn't putting his/her hand up until after A1 has the ball at his/her disposal.

+1 This is what I've done so far, and haven't had a problem. That being said, I've only worked with officials who only do junior high ball thus far. Not sure they know the new mechanic.

Eye Contact!
 

Another thing I would do, after pre-game, and maybe before that first stoppage time to chat, in the event this occurred, is make good eye contact with my P and kind of emphasize, AHEM, raise your arm, by holding the ball a sec or two longer while looking at them.

Again, they eventually get it and then you can move on.

I was told, at least in the 3-person mechanic, that the L should have their hand up to chop before the L administers the throw-in. This tells the L that they're ready.

If the T is holding up play (subs, etc.), they should have the hand closest to the L up and out as a "stop sign". If they are simply ready to chop in time, they would use the hand closest to the table (and away from the L). It shouldn't be too difficult to tell the difference between the two.

I was thinking the same thing M&M. I always chuckle when I see other officials with their hand up as a "stop sign" but they aren't pointing it at anything in particular especially not the administering official. Not that I've ever done that myself....

We've been doing this in Georgia for several years now and it works fine. I wait until the administering official has blown their whistle and is in the process of handing/bouncing the ball to the throwing-in player to raise my hand.

What's interesting is that they don't require the official administering the throw-in to chop the clock, only keep the 5-second count. It would actually be a large adjustment to go back to chopping if I'm L and administering a throw-in.

That's how I've always been thought as well.

This is the new NFHS mechanic. IAABO has not adopted it, precisely for this reason.

No Blind Jokes Please ...
 

Hey? You mean to say that IAABO has done something right for a change?

IAABO not switching the T's side for FT administration was a smart move too if you ask me.

For clarity, you've been taught that the L does NOT chop? That is different from what we were taught. We were taught that the L has the chop and the T is simply mirroring his.