Optional Bird Dog
 

This past season I developed "the bad habit" of "bird dogging" on occasion. I knew I did it (maybe 10% of the time) and usually on a foul under the basket or in the lane. It was seen as a bad habit by evaluators and I was told about it several times. Even though it's in the FED Rules Book, understand, I got it.

Gotta tell ya, I notice a fare amount of it in the Tourney!

Any of you have the habit? Had it? Broke it? Use it on occasion? Reasoning?

We don't use it for Fed games, and we are supposed to for FIBA games.

I like it when I need to sell a call in a group of players, but that's it. Generally, I use it sparingly.

Like you, I only use it sparingly when I deem it necessary. I've never been advised against it.

I almost never use it. I dunno why those working the tournament use it as often as they do...even on fouls where it's obvious who is committing the infraction.

Yeah I only use it when I've got a foul in a crowd. Even then I usually point with one finger...probably a habit I need to break myself.

We've also been told that it's optional. So, if it's optional, how can it be a bad habit?

Maybe if you use it in completely the opposite times you should be using it?

I used it before the gap, but never after. It was required before.

I use it for the reason it is there to be used, for clarification purposes only. Usually when there are two or more players around and I need to make it clear which player this applied to. Mostly in plays in the lane.

Otherwise there is no reason to use the mechanic.

Peace

+1

I don't remember using it at all. Any question on who committed the foul will be answered when I report.

I use it in the same situation & also just a one finger point, while verbalizing "that's yours #12."
Never been told anything about doing it.

Now that I think about it, I caught myself doing it this way once this year in the season. Then, oddly, I did it again Saturday in a men's rec game.

Still use it
 

I was originally taught to use the bird dog, back in the early 1980s. During a school game, I only use it in a crowd. None of the young refs ever seem to use it.

In youth or recreation league games, the "uniforms" often only have numbers on the back. I find I bird dog a lot then, and often, my partner will shout out the number to me, so I don't have to do a little dance with the player to find his number.