Mixed Messages
 

As a newer official entering his 2nd season and doing lots of rec ball and fall leagues to get court time, I noticed that I get lots of feedback that is inconsistent with prior feedback from other officials. One will say do it this way then another will say nah..do it that way. Talking about mechanics.

This has caused confusion for me. Simple is the new genuis:)

Comments on how you provide feedback.

Go to clinics taught by those who teach whatever the "right" way is for your group, and follow those.

You always need to take feedback and apply what works for you and discard what doesn't.

You've found one of two things....

1. There is more than one way to do some things.

2. Not everyone knows what they're talking about...not uncommon in this avocation. Just say thank you and move one once you figure out which is which.

I am sure working with officials in those games you are not always going to get officials that either have the same experience level or work the higher levels all the time. That being said you will get all kinds of information. What you need to do is go to camps, trainings or meetings to get what is proper and use that as the guide. Not everyone has your best interest at heart or knows all the proper mechanics or advice to give. This is not uncommon which is why you cannot take everyone's advice as gospel. What you do need to do is educate yourself on what is supposed to be done and then when someone tells you what to do you can verify that information.

Peace

Great advice so far. Just let me echo what the other more experienced officials have said so far. Go to clinics and camps and absorb what the instructors and clinicians are teaching you. Find out how the assignors want things called.

Listen to the advice politely and then use what works for you and your situation.

I will say there is an ENORMOUS difference between the mechanics for rec ball and high school ball.

No there isnt,other than having to work closer to the basket to see what the munchkins are doing to each other, unless you have to make allowances for odd placements of the scoring table or crazy rule adaptations that require some mechanics tweaking. I hear this gripe of the mechanics being an issue from the HS guys that wont do rec ball, its basically an excuse of not wanting to do it without actually saying it.(Not to mention their mechanics usually stink anyways at the HS level to begin with).

It's just easier to do what I do: I simply say that I won't work rec ball. Much easier.

But the season is around the corner now. One more football game this weekend and my attention will turn to basketball and the Part I test that's been sitting on my desk for the past couple of weeks.

I guess it depends on what you call rec ball, but for many no one I know really cares about it but to make an extra buck. I do not know many that rely on that to become better or do not get into bag habits for the very reason I stated above. I do not do it because it is often has no or little accountability based on who assigns it and the organizations over it. Just like during the summer I do not use NF mechanics as I already know those. I tend to do things to work on other parts of my game. I do not butter my bread with non-HS and college games, so what I do in games like AAU is up to me. Even summer HS basketball is not with the same standards.

Peace

I know that when I'm hired to work 4-5 games in a row (I may do it once or twice every few years, usually as a favor or for some extra running) I usually work with a friend and we pre-determine how we're going to work. Mechanics? That's up to us. What I do that day isn't going to change what I do when I work a HS game in November.

Allow me to clarify. Having worked LOTS of rec ball in my first two years, I saw many instances of no switching, reporting from the endline, telegraphing reporting, not chopping the clock (because there was always a running clock until the last two minutes of the half), no visible counts on 10 seconds or five seconds. Perhaps the mechanics weren't different, but from a new official's point of view, rec ball and high school ball were two different animals. I was warned a number of times by well respected clinicians that rec ball is fine, but to be careful that rec ball habits do not creep into calling high school.

I'd agree with this -- the "official" mechanics aren't different, but the practical ones are. That said, if I am working (and I rarely worc "rec ball") with a new official who wants to learn / practice the "right way" I will work the right mechanics.