New Referee on the town -- need advice

[ontheway]

what specifically about Lead, and trail? did you do poorly on the mechanics section alone?

[APG]

You're going to have to give us more information...what exactly are you struggling on? What scenarios are you having trouble with?

[Tio]

Be sure to read the mechanics or officials manual. These usually have the basics of court positioning.

More importantly, see if your local HS association has a training program. I think most of us get better at officiating by doing it. The book is helpful too, but not a substitute for work on the court.

[kwatson]

Im new to it as well and my biggest problem is how to stop ball watching. Any trick or tips that will help me cure this bad habit would be appreciated.

[tref]

Originally Posted by kwatson

Im new to it as well and my biggest problem is how to stop ball watching. Any trick or tips that will help me cure this bad habit would be appreciated.

It takes a lot of self discipline & self talk to stop ball watching. At L my mindset is, "I have #32 white & # 44 blue, who could hurt us next? Uhh oh here comes #13 white."

Not only does that help you to focus on your PCA (while seeing as many of the other players as possible, with knowledge of ball/partner locations) should you have to call a foul on anybody in your PCA you already have their numbers locked in.

[VaTerp]

Originally Posted by tref

It takes a lot of self discipline & self talk to stop ball watching. At L my mindset is, "I have #32 white & # 44 blue, who could hurt us next? Uhh oh here comes #13 white."

Not only does that help you to focus on your PCA (while seeing as many of the other players as possible, with knowledge of ball/partner locations) should you have to call a foul on anybody in your PCA you already have their numbers locked in.

Yup. Pick up the off ball competitive match ups in your PCA. Be it post play, cutters, screeners, etc.

It definitely takes self discipline and continuous self talk. Even those of us who have been doing this for a while can be lulled into ball watching from time to time. But I find that focusing on the competitive match ups works well. If there are no real competitive match ups in your PCA then try to get a wider view, see what kind of offense is being run, and what is likely coming to your area.

[Rufus]

Originally Posted by VaTerp

Yup. Pick up the off ball competitive match ups in your PCA. Be it post play, cutters, screeners, etc.

It definitely takes self discipline and continuous self talk. Even those of us who have been doing this for a while can be lulled into ball watching from time to time. But I find that focusing on the competitive match ups works well. If there are no real competitive match ups in your PCA then try to get a wider view, see what kind of offense is being run, and what is likely coming to your area.

Not much to add here other than maybe to practice at the lower level ball you'll get assigned to start with. It takes a lot of concentration and inner-dialogue (as mentioned by VA and tref mention) but the reward is that as you move up in level of play the dividends are huge. The hardest part is that at lower levels off-ball action is nearly nil as they haven't the slightest clue what to do without the ball so it's like watching cement dry.

[fiasco]

Originally Posted by kwatson

Im new to it as well and my biggest problem is how to stop ball watching. Any trick or tips that will help me cure this bad habit would be appreciated.

Ball watching essentially means you don't trust your partner. If you trusted your partner, you wouldn't feel the need to watch the ball all the time.

I love catching off-ball fouls. In my evaluations, I've always been praised for getting fouls off the ball. That's because I trust my partner, and when the ball's not in my area, I'm looking for illegal contact away from the ball. When you start valuing refereeing contact and violations off-ball, you'll stop ball watching.

It's just about understanding your role on the floor and understanding that there's a lot of contact that goes on away from the ball. If you're ball watching all the time, you're not doing your job. Just care less about what the ball is doing and more about focusing in on your primary area of coverage. And remember that there's not a whole lot of point in watching the ball when it's out of your area anyway, because how bad is it going to look when you call a foul or travel that's right in front of your partner? Now you've thrown him under the bus and he doesn't trust you anymore.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by fiasco

Ball watching essentially means you don't trust your partner. If you trusted your partner, you wouldn't feel the need to watch the ball all the time.

That's a load of BS. All new officials have trouble letting go of watching the ball. It's something that takes time and discipline to overcome. As a new official it has nothing to do with trusting your partner.

[fiasco]

Originally Posted by Smitty

That's a load of BS. All new officials have trouble letting go of watching the ball. It's something that takes time and discipline to overcome. As a new official it has nothing to do with trusting your partner.

It's not a load of BS, but thanks for playing our game.

It's a habit that can be cured by learning how to trust your partner. As the ball transitions from your area to his/her area, learn to think "my partner's got this. I'm going to watch off ball."

[Mregor]

Originally Posted by Smitty

That's a load of BS. All new officials have trouble letting go of watching the ball. It's something that takes time and discipline to overcome. As a new official it has nothing to do with trusting your partner.

You beat me to it!

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by fiasco

Ball watching essentially means you don't trust your partner. If you trusted your partner, you wouldn't feel the need to watch the ball all the time.

Wrong.

This is one of the most common things I have to try to teach new officials to not do in camp or in evaluations. They usually do not know any better or have the experience to not do this, so they do it. It does not mean they are not trusting their partner when they do not know why this is a problem yet.

Peace

[just another ref]

I think it is a combination of things.

Many are hung up on: " If I see it, I'm gonna call it, no matter what."

This provokes a couple of things.

1. You shouldn't have seen it in the first place, because you shouldn't have been looking over there.

2. If you're 50 feet away, and the play is right in front of your partner, you do need to trust him. "I think that was a foul, but if he can't call it from there, no way can I call it from here."

[TimTaylor]

Originally Posted by fiasco

Ball watching essentially means you don't trust your partner. If you trusted your partner, you wouldn't feel the need to watch the ball all the time.

I strongly disagree. As several others have pointed out, not trusting your partner has nothing to do with it - it's an issue of training and experience.

It's just about understanding your role on the floor and understanding that there's a lot of contact that goes on away from the ball. If you're ball watching all the time, you're not doing your job. Just care less about what the ball is doing and more about focusing in on your primary area of coverage.

This is the only part of your statement that I agree with. As was pointed out earlier, the focus of the action is usually where the ball is and it's a natural tendency to look there. A good official learns to focus on their coverage area away from the ball, and that takes time and experience.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by fiasco

Ball watching essentially means you don't trust your partner. If you trusted your partner, you wouldn't feel the need to watch the ball all the time.

I don't think that is it at all.

I think it is from many, many years as a spectator/player where most people just watch the ball. It is a habit from pre-referring days. Most people that watch the game like to know what the ball handler is doing and focus on them. For some people that join the officiating ranks, that is a hard habit to break. I think the last thing it is about is trust.