Not making the call frustration.
 

Before I get started I want to say this is my first year officiating. I have been doing something that is driving me crazy. It upsets me when I don’t make a call. I don’t show it on the court but on my drive home and that evening it bothers me.

Here is my issue and looking for ideas.

I will see a violation or foul but don’t blow the whistle. Sometimes I will start to raise my arm but I don’t blow the whistle and the play continues. I want to break this bad habit. How much time after the incident is it to late to blow the whistle? Is it better to have a late whistle then no whistle at all?

Thanks

Kevin

Good news
 

Good news is it does get better.

I would rather be slow and right, than fast and wrong. So don't kick yourself too hard over this, this is perfectly natural.

For your own sake. LET IT GO!
I have tried to look back on calls that I may have missed, only to have that affect the way I officiate the next time. Just learn from it, file it away, and move on. First year is rough, and if you are killing yourself over missed calls you are going to make it even worse.
A late whistle is still a good whistle and you know that you have seen the entire play. If you get it and get it late, next time you see it you'll be able to get it that much quicker. Our job is to get the call right. The call being a second later does not make the call wrong.

It's not as late as you think. Blow the whistle.

It gets better as you see more games. Make a concerted effort to see the whole play before you make a decision and you will start to see your timing improve.

I've seen college officials do the thing where they start to raise their hand as if they're going to call something, then quickly put it back down. It happens!

The others give good advice. A slow whistle can still be a good whistle, and I'll second the notion that a late whistle isn't as late as it seems.

My whistle and timing have gotten exponentially better since my first year, but this stuff still happens. I had play last night where a player jump-stopped and gathered the ball and then passed it. If he had dribbled again it would have been a carrying violation, but he didn't. My whistle was too quick and I called a carry. It was during the JV game and no one said anything, but I knew I screwed it up and felt like a moron.

Why a carrying violation?

Late and right is much better than quick and wrong. Patient whistles are fine.

I will second the other posters who said to let it go. I'm 3rd year so I sometimes let missed calls get to me still. While it's good to know what to work on, it's best to be relaxed, focused and confident. When you're on the court you and your partner are the rules experts, the one in the best position and the only ones without a vested interest in the game.

Some advice I learned here: "Be in the right place, look in the right place, call the obvious."

I missed a travel in my last game. Ball was out on the other side of the court just above the FT line extended. I was the trail. My eyes got over there late because I had some screening action I thought was more important at the moment. Player lifted the pivot foot before releasing the ball on the dribble. A pretty obvious travel, I'm guessing, although I didn't see the beginning, so I didn't put air into the whistle. I heard the coach and, for once, I think he was right.

I think it bothered me for about two seconds. Seriously. If it bothers me longer, it affects the next call or the next sequence. We *all* miss things. Let it go. Don't feel pressure to get the next one.

Probably my biggest flaw, and something I'm constantly working on. I'll say to myself, that's a travel, and assume nobody saw it....guess what? Everbody saw it. I strongly agree, you have more time than you think to process a play and make the correct call. Last game I had, there was a quick double dribble, player went up for shot. I saw it, froze, and heard bench and coach give a moan. I called it, albeit a second late. No reaction at all from anybody, it was clearly the correct call and maybe a nano second late, but right. Watch D1 guys, they do it all the time.

Did the same thing my 1st year...
 

It does get better and the game will slow down as all veterans say. Hang in there!

I had a late backcourt call last week. The dribbler got trapped just past the division line, had the ball knocked away, touched it himself and sent the ball over the line and then gathered it up. My mind thought that looked funny until it hit me that was actually a violation. Was late a little but I called it.

I've been reffing for over 30 years so this isn't my first rodeo. I am also a clinician. My biggest concern isn't that you might be missing a call (we all do it) its that you are beating yourself up about it.

We lost one of our best officials in the area 10 years ago when he couldn't let it go. It would just eat on him. Once we were coming back from a game where he had a tough (but correct) call late in the game. He was just bemoaning that he may have messed up.

Then the magic words--"When you have a tough call, you just make it and get over it. When I make a tough call, the doctors put me on suicide watch."

Care about what you do. If you don't care, you won't be worth a hoot. But you have to let it go.

As others have said this has happened to us all, still does from time to time...and with time, things do get better. I have seen 30+ yr veterans miss calls. Having said that, I do however think it is probably better to have an on time whistle on violations and a patient whistle on fouls.

It's Life
 

Okay, I did something, and got a negative result. I think, "What did I do or not do that produced that negative result?" -(missed a call, made the wrong call, etc.) Then, I think, "What will I do in a similar circumstance, in the future? And I go on.
The next time, I use the new protocol, and I check the results - were they positive, or negative? If I'm pleased with the results, I stick with the new protocol. If not, I evaluate, modify, and move on.
The worst thing I can do is to brood over something in the past. And as a young official, this would just tie me in knots, and make me freeze up more and more, because this process is always ongoing at a pace that will wear out a person who worries too much about what he did rather than taking the experience and making the next opportunity better.
Some of the other guys have said it really well - move on. It's life.

+1

Yeah we have to be page turners instead of dwelling on it & going in the tank.
"That's equivellant to the player who turns the ball over & then doesnt get back on D." - Marc Davis


Although we strive for perfection, its an unattainable goal, so we settle for excellence!
Besides, if we miss a couple out of the 300 or so decisions we make per game our accuracy is still much higher than the players shooting percentage & better than their turnovers to assist ratio.

Sounds like you may be in Quality Systems (possibly 6 Sigma?)

I really like this advice. Tonight are my first two school ball games I'm going to work (after doing some rec ball but having taken the last few years off) and that is my plan for tonight until I can get comfortable with everything I need to know and do.

Dress right, have pride in the signal/call and do the things listed above. Those are on my goal sheet for tonight.

I'll take that as a great compliment! Actually, I've developed my philosophy just through life experience.
When I've had employees, and been an administrator, I've used the following ideal: If I have an employee who never makes a mistake, I know one thing about that employee: He/she isn't working anywhere near his/her potential.

Absolutely, provided that the call is right. Be patient.

Your next step will be regretting calls you did make, because you'll start calling everything you think you see. Try to maintain your patient whistle, and you'll minimize this stage.

Tagging on to this, your call better be 110% correct. If any doubt at all,
fugetabowtit. Late and questionable are not a good combo.

Another Analysis
 

Another dynamic may be going on that might deserve mention.
Think of officiating a game as three partially overlapping bubbles representing what your mind needs to concentrate on. One bubble represents RULES, another MECHANICS/SIGNALS, another JUDGMENT. Ideally, one wants to know the rules so well and his/her mechanics (including positioning and primary coverage areas) and signals so well that hardly any thought at all needs to be expended during a game on those two items. That means you can invest all your mind's efforts on judgment, whether and when to make a call or leave it a no call, which is the situation you originally cited.
With more and more games and situations and camps and contests observed under your belt, you'll find yourself migrating over to that judgment bubble more and more over time.
Make sense? Or just a bunch of psuedo-neophilosophical psychobabble?

Thanks so much of all the help. I am back on the court tonight and I will try to use these ideas. I try so hard to call a good game. I have so much to learn.


Thanks again.

Kevin

No prob Kevin.

You may want to consider eliminating the word "try" from your vocab & become a Nike man.

"Do or do not, there is no try"

Yoda

Better to leave a violation or travel out there than to call a phantom imo.

As somebody said earlier it gets better with time and games. Remember it's not life and death. Your desire to improve will help you a great deal. Try to stay in the moment.

[QUOTE=Indianaref;802884]As others have said this has happened to us all, still does from time to time...and with time, things do get better. I have seen 30+ yr veterans miss calls. Having said that, I do however think it is probably better to have an on time whistle on violations and a patient whistle on fouls.[/QUOTE]
Starting my 4th year and never heard that....sounds to me like great advice.

This has been a great thread for all us newer officials....like the poster I still (far to often IMO) have that "late recognition/reaction" to a foul and don't get air into the whistle.

To all the vets who replied...thanks for tips and the reassuring advice....esp. about the difference between caring and wanting to get it right and beating yourself up over a missed call.

Especially if you're reaching from lead to call a phantom backcourt violation. :rolleyes:

I'm a first year too and know exactly what you are saying. I had this happen during my mechanics clinic. Obvious travel, my brain told me it was a travel, and I just didn't blow the whistle. Super embarrasing in front of other officials. I determined it was because I was too wound up worrying about this and that and the other. I figured I can see all this stuff clearly when I'm just watching a game (ie low stress), so I just told myself that I was going to clear my mind a bit and just watch the game and let it come to me. It has worked pretty good so far.