Running Backwards

[rwest]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

+1. I think some folks are taking "looking over your shoulders" too literally, as in you're running forward while looking almost 180 degrees behind. That's not what it means. It means to run with your head turned to your inside shoulder to look directly onto the court which then allows your peripheral to catch anything unusual that may happen behind you.

-1
That's exactly what it does mean. What you are describing is looking to your side. Peripheral vision is not good enough to see many things accurately enough to make an informed decision. Especially in 2 man where you are responsible for the line. I don't believe you can call the line with credibility with looking to the side. I'm in the process of teaching my daughter to drive. In backing up I'm teaching her to look back over her shoulder similar to how I do in officiating basketball. If she looks to her side her vision behind her is not as good as it could or should be. When I look back over my shoulder I have a much better view of the play behind me and the players.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by rwest

-1
That's exactly what it does mean. What you are describing is looking to your side. Peripheral vision is not good enough to see many things accurately enough to make an informed decision. Especially in 2 man where you are responsible for the line. I don't believe you can call the line with credibility with looking to the side. I'm in the process of teaching my daughter to drive. In backing up I'm teaching her to look back over her shoulder similar to how I do in officiating basketball. If she looks to her side her vision behind her is not as good as it could or should be. When I look back over my shoulder I have a much better view of the play behind me and the players.

All I need to see is that the ball went out on my line. I'll let my partner who is covering the ball then give me "help" if I didn't see what caused the OOB. I never (knock on wood) fail to blow my line, but I'm also not shy about asking for help. As the new Lead in 2-man I'm usually responsible for 6-9 players until the ball settles in the front court. If the action does all of a sudden come to my sideline then I'm going to stop and position myself to see the pack and to referee what's coming at me. I'm not going to keep moving away from the action.

Originally Posted by Eastshire

I part of our disagreement here is basically a difference in how quickly we try to get to the endline as new L. With no pressure, I move as quickly as possible to the endline and officiate play as it comes to me. It seems to me that you pace the players to the endline. This means I have to look further over my shoulder than you do to cover players (although certainly not 180 degrees, more like 95 degrees.
...

In 3-man I get down as fast as possible, in 2-man I don't. In 2-man, while in transition I want provide some "Slot" support. Also in 2-man I'm sure I close down on farther as the Trail than 99% of the officials so most times I'm not in position to have all the players behind me when the play starts going the other way.


BTW, I love this discussion. Rule talk is good and necessary, of course, but I really get excited when the discussion is about how we "officiate" and why.

[Duffman]

Don't run backwards is one of the first things I that was taught to me doing a local officials camp run by a former D1 official. The reason was 100% safety.

I don't think there can be any question that running backwards allows for a better field of vision, whether that be in one's PCA or outside it. I also don't think it's universal that turning and sprinting is faster than running backwards, at least over short distances (just inside the time line to baseline).

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Duffman

...I don't think there can be any question that running backwards allows for a better field of vision, whether that be in one's PCA or outside it...

Depends on what you are trying to look at and where you are positioned on the court. If you are in the middle of the court running backwards would definitely give you a better view of everything in front of you.

When you are the Lead on the endline do you stand flat (parallel to endline) or at angle? Standing flat would give your a bigger field of vision, but not necessarily the best view of what you should be looking at.

Originally Posted by Duffman

...
I also don't think it's universal that turning and sprinting is faster than running backwards, at least over short distances (just inside the time line to baseline).

The time line? Talking about the 28' line? What kind of play are you talking about?

[Duffman]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Depends on what you are trying to look at and where you are positioned on the court. If you are in the middle of the court running backwards would definitely give you a better view of everything in front of you.

When you are the Lead on the endline do you stand flat (parallel to endline) or at angle? Standing flat would give your a bigger field of vision, but not necessarily the best view of what you should be looking at.




The time line? Talking about the 28' line? What kind of play are you talking about?

I work in a lot of small towns with small gyms (many in the 80 feet range). I was referring to the half court stripe as the time line which in those gyms is only a few strides.

When running backwards you have the ability to turn your head and shoulders to get any forward facing angle you want (within reason).

I admit I still on habit run backwards but it's more instinct than anything (I played DB and LB in high school). It's always in cases where I'm in the court of play and there is a quick steal and transition and I'm trying to avoid getting caught up in the play. If I can get to the sideline and or far enough away from the action I'll reverse pivot and run but sometimes there just isn't much time and by the time I've taken a handful steps backwards I'm already at the other FT line.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Duffman

...I admit I still on habit run backwards but it's more instinct than anything (I played DB and LB in high school). It's always in cases where I'm in the court of play and there is a quick steal and transition and I'm trying to avoid getting caught up in the play. If I can get to the sideline and or far enough away from the action I'll reverse pivot and run but sometimes there just isn't much time and by the time I've taken a handful steps backwards I'm already at the other FT line.

Ok, I see what you are saying.

On those type of plays where I'm onto the court and there's a quick steal my first move is to get out of the way and then I turn and run. If they go straight to the basket then I position myself to see in between the defender and ballhandler from behind which may mean me coming onto the court even more. If I see that a defender has gotten ahead of the ballhandler then I'm busting tail straight for the endline with my eyes on the defender.