5 things for class

[Larks]

I'm speaking tonight at a new official class and one of my topics is 5 things you can do to be successful....

Im starting with Mechanics - By the book

I thought I would throw it out here....whats a tip or two you have found yourself giving new officials....

Thx

Larks

[BillyMac]

Find a mentor. Find a mentor. Find a mentor.

[jdmara]

Originally Posted by Larks

I'm speaking tonight at a new official class and one of my topics is 5 things you can do to be successful....

Im starting with Mechanics - By the book

I thought I would throw it out here....whats a tip or two you have found yourself giving new officials....

Thx

Larks

I 100% agree with a mentor but more importantly, read all you can about situations that happen to other people. I don't know how many times something has popped up during a game that I was able to nail because of something I've read in Referee Magazine, online forums, or had discussed with my mentors. I've out-thought veterans in the heat of the moment because of my thirst for knowledge. Learning the letter and intent of the rules is also key.

-Josh

[JRutledge]

Use the 3 leg principle (Rules Knowledge, Mechanics and Philosophy).

Is this just a one day thing or a thing that you will do over some time?

Peace

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Larks

I'm speaking tonight at a new official class and one of my topics is 5 things you can do to be successful....

Im starting with Mechanics - By the book

I thought I would throw it out here....whats a tip or two you have found yourself giving new officials....

Thx

Larks

NEW OFFICIALS’ ORIENTATION:
Information Important for the New Basketball Official

STATE ASSOCIATION
required MHSAA membership, rulebooks, mechanics exam, online rules test, insurance, website

LOCAL ASSOCIATION
required membership, FBOA, other associations, general meetings, rules meetings, officers, trainers, website

NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
NFHS (see NFHS Central Hub via the Arbiter site, below)
NASO: further insurance coverage, VIP card

ASSIGNORS
AAA, others, relationship, fees, checking your email, things to never do
Middle School: .........
High School: ........
Others, see FBOA website, “Resources, Getting Games”

ARBITER
www.arbitersports.com, creating an account, blocks, schedule, features, mobile access

IMPORTANT REFERENCE SOURCES
NFHS Rules Book, NFHS Case Book, NFHS Officials Manual, MHSAA Officials Guidebook

REFEREE MAGAZINE

UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT
resources, recommendations, things to avoid

MENTOR AND MENTORING
“seek and assist” – seek out a mentor and assist your peers to progress

FOR YOUR “FAVORITES” LIST -- WEB RESOURCES
Officiating.com (discussion forum, basketball)
MHSAA Home | Michigan High School Athletic Association
Fruit Belt Officials Association Home Page
www.arbitersports.com (schedule, blocks, NFHS Central Hub; will be invited by assigner)
FIBA.com | We Are Basketball (go to “Experts” tab, then “Officials’ corner for good video clips)

OFFICIAL AS OBSERVER, SUPPORTER, FA N
neutrality, conflicts of interest, supporter of the avocation, reacting to fans, things to avoid

OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE
observing peers, rules meetings, self-study, what not to watch, scrimmages, camps, web resources

USING VIDEO

NON-SCHOOL CONTESTS, TOURNAMENTS

GOAL SETTING

OFFICIATING MIND BUBBLES
In which bubble does your mind spend most of its time during a game?
Is it in the “Rules Bubble”, where it is constantly asking, “Was that travelling???” Or, “Should I have called that a backcourt violation???” Or, “Is that a delayed violation or not???” Or, “Wait a second, does the offensive team get a new 10 second count now???” Or, “I hope I just called that violation correctly.” Constantly fixated on the rules—what they are, or aren’t. That’s game-life in the “Rules Bubble”.
Or does your mind spend a great amount of time in the “Mechanics Bubble” where questions repeatedly arise like: “Am I in the right place right now?” Or, “I wonder if I should be rotating soon?” Or, “Where’s my partner? Do we have two trails?” Or, “What’s the protocol for reporting this call to the table?” Or, “What’s the signal to use at the table for an illegal screen again?” Those are the kinds of game-thoughts that run through the mind inhabiting the “Mechanics Bubble”.
Or is your mind parked in both of the above, the never-never land of a mind preoccupied both with rules questions and mechanics indecisiveness?
Not much mental room for executing sound judgment when the mind is stuck in any of those places, is there? So much attention on rules and mechanics that the all-important sound judgment required to do a good game suffers.
Wouldn’t it be great to have your mind settle into the “Judgment Bubble” and have it stay right there the entire game? The “Judgment Bubble”, where your efforts are expended on when to make a call, not on what call to make. Where your analysis of the play before you comes without having to worry about what the rule is and which signal to use. Where the elementary things are not ignored but automatic, the task of thinking about them filtered out and readiness to execute at the forefront. Where the judgment needed to make the call or leave it a no-call is all that needs consideration.
Make it so that your mind’s time resides firmly in the “Judgment Bubble”.
Too extreme to be entirely possible? Perhaps. But the concept does introduce two vivid, loyal aims which ought to become passions for you, which will move you into the right bubble for the whole game.
RULES KNOWLEDGE: Make that an integral part of your officiating avocation. By dedicated study – on your own, with your crew, in small group settings, at association meetings -- come to know the rules and casebook situations so thoroughly that the call that has to be made or the no call that keeps you from the upraised arm becomes automatic for you. Without the slavish burden of needing to think through this rule and that when a situation arises, the application of the rule that has to be executed can become second nature, with a minimal amount of forethought necessary. Dedicated, passionate attention to the rules outside of game time moves your mind to spend more and more time in the “Judgment Bubble”, where it can do the most good during the contest.
APPROVED SIGNALS AND PROPER MECHANICS: Commit yourself to them. Learn them from your officials’ manual, verify them with your trainer, review them on your own, practice them in front of a mirror and at scrimmages, critique yourself on video, receive reinforcement at summer camps. Get so comfortable with your place on the floor that rotations become second nature, dead ball switches become automatic, ideal positioning is what you do. Work on your signals and mechanics so that where to be and how to signal comes without thought. Make it natural to be in the right position to see and make the right call from the right place. Begin to wonder less and less about whether the play is now in your primary. Get good at signals and mechanics, which will allow your mind to spend more time in the bubble in which it really belongs, the “Judgment Bubble.”
Some may say that the best place for a well-rounded official is right in the middle of the diagram above, in the overlapping area where all three meet—rules, mechanics, and judgment. And it is true that a good referee certainly has an adequate amount of each of those three thoroughly entrenched in his/her mind. But the question is this: what is it that will occupy your decision-making processes a majority of the time during the game? Rules and mechanics are things to work on passionately outside your actual time on the court during the games that count. Judgment then comes through experience on the court . . . with rules, mechanics, and signals already an innate part of the equation.
With rules knowledge and correct mechanics/signals in the bag, all that needs to occupy your mind during the game is then the ultimate focus: judgment.
They’re not paying you for your rules knowledge or your mechanics and signals. At least as much as they’re paying you for your judgment. And now you have a strategy to make their investment in you pay off richly, by striving to get your game-mind solely in the “Judgment Bubble”!

[Larks]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Use the 3 leg principle (Rules Knowledge, Mechanics and Philosophy).

Is this just a one day thing or a thing that you will do over some time?

Peace

Tonight....

[JRutledge]

I guess unless you have more than an hour, I would just stick to things that work for your area. You could talk about mechanics or rules, but I think most of all you should focus on local situations that help those navigate their career. Things like accepting contracts, working with partners, expectations for varsity should not be general, but specific to the audience. You can use personal stories, but limit them to facts that are commonly known or expected by the association or assigning brass.

Peace

[Larks]

Freddy - Thats solid

[rockyroad]

Larks, before you talk about what the mechanics are and which ones they are supposed to use, I would explain the WHY factor - why are the mechanics important, what is the point of using proscribed mechanics, etc...give them reasons to WANT to learn the right things up front.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

I would explain the why factor.

"Because I said so."

That's the reason my mother always gave. For everything.