inbounding mechanics
 

Curious what others do. I was told to never reach across your body to hand inbounder the ball. However this causes me to use that same hand for the 5 sec count and sometimes causes me to do a half arm motion to avoid hitting inbounder. What do you do?

I do what I was first taught:

• Ball in hand opposite the player. This is to prevent him taking the ball and in-bounding it.
• Raise the arm closest to the in-bounder.
• Pass him the ball (yes, across the body) if on the FC end line or if there's pressure when anywhere else on the court. Bounce otherwise.
• Count with further arm.
• Chop in time when legally touched in-bounds.
• Use raised arm for a count if needed.

Interesting... I was taught it differently:

Stand next to inbounder, ball in the arm next to the inbounder, but held in such a way that the inbounder can't easily grab it from you.
Raise opposite arm.
Hand ball to inbounder.
Take a step backward and/or away from inbounder to clear some space and get a better angle.
Begin count with arm nearest inbounder.
Chop when legally touched inbounds.
Begin a new count, if necessary, with chopping arm.


Personally, I almost never use a bounce. Maybe 1 or two times a game. I probably should use it more often.

For HS, the same as above.

Since you should step back to better see the play, and since you (usually) will be at an angle (+/- 45*) to the boundary line, the swinging arm will not interfere with the play.

Same here - but I probably hold the ball with two hands prior to handing it to the player so that they don't grab it from me. I believe all else is exactly how it was taught to me in a mechanics clinic.

Inbounding
 

If a player does try to grab the ball out of my hands

I'll blow my whistle so nothing can happen and let the player know that the

official will give you the ball :)

Too much thought process in what you actually do IMO. What hand you give the ball to the thrower to me is up to you but if someone you work for makes a big deal then do what they suggest. Otherwise you should not make the ball available to them until you are ready.

If you are handing the ball then you step back a step or two based on the gym and watch the thrower and the defender closely if they are defending the throw. I would also start later on the count than early. And I will never give an audible count no matter if I am asked to do so or not. I do try to have the chop arm away from the thrower, but I admit I do not always do that mechanic.

Peace

Exactly.

There are a lot of personal opinions in this area that are often pushed as the "right" way.

If an official can't keep the player from grabbing the ball no matter which hand you hold the ball in, they might want to visit the weight room a few times.

If they grab it but don't muscle it away can we call a held ball?

Step away after handing the ball to the thrower to avoid hitting the thrower with your counting arm, if that's an issue on throw-ins where you're handing the ball. As others have said, lots of personal/area preference on this. IAABO and NFHS manuals don't necessarily delineate one way or the other, I don't believe, but NCAAW says to always count away from thrower. Some areas also say to always count toward the table on backcourt counts, which would have a direct effect on how you would mechanically do any backcourt throw-ins, too.

I honestly don't know what I do. I know i virtually always bounce unless I'm on the FC endline. Pressure only gives me more reason to be wider sooner.

On a front court end line throw-in I hand the ball with the hand closest to the thrower-in. I then step and raise that same hand before I start my count with the arm furthest from the thrower-in.

I agree. Some people promote the idea that you should hand it if there is pressure. I disagree with that completely. I'm more worried about covering the play as soon as the throwin starts rather than if the defender interferes with my ability to get the ball to the thrower. I bounce the ball to the side of the thrower anyway so the defender would have to really break the plane to get to the ball anyway.

Before I bounce the ball, I start close and, if necessarily, indicate that the defender shouldn't cross the plane. Then I step away. Once 3-4 steps back, I bounce the ball then put my arm up and start the count. I can cover the throwin and everything else around it a LOT better from 10 ft' than 2-3'.

I also inform the thrower-in that I'll be stepping away from him so don't follow me.

Interesting, many concepts and different ways. I guess it comes down to preference.

Yep...I do that too..."Stay there, I'll bounce it to you"

I've started using this recently. Before that, I don't remember players following me that frequently, but since adding this, I have fewer issues with that.

Or learn to blow the whistle. ;)

Either way it goes, I see these things as camp and evaluator issues than what really helps you officiate. It is like when people used to say when giving a 10 second count to give the count signal to the table. It really does not matter either way what you do, it is not going to change how things are done or understood.

Peace

+1

Looks cleaner in my opinion.

I had an evaluator tell me that you should actually be on the court when administering a a throw in so you get a better angle and view of the play. i agree with most everyone else about being further away is better. I feel like being out on the court can interfere with the play and decrease the view the boundary plane. Anybody else do this or have an opinion?

Honestly, I'm not paying that close attention to the boundary plane...especially if there's sufficient space for the thrower. I'm more concerned about the action in the immediate area around the throw-in and while only keep the thrower and the person guarding the thrower in the corner of my vision.

I like your thinking on this but what do you think about being on the court as opposed to being out of bounds?

Personally, I think it is dumb.

I've heard it taught too and it makes absolutely no sense. For every step you take onto the court or even towards the court, the less of your field of vision is on the court. I have no need to have the out of bounds area behind the thrower in my field of vision. I'd rather have the court and players in that field as much as possible.

There is simply very little that the thrower can do that you really need to see so why put your self in a position to best see the thrower.

If such a position were really a good idea, why are we, as trail, not trying to get in front of the play and look back through? It is essentially the same. We don't, of course. We trail the play and look through it at an angle such that we can see what else is going on elsewhere on the court...with a view looking from behind the player with the ball.

I feel the same way as you. As such, I would never do this; I stay out of the way at all times. In every case.

And I just don't see how being on the court gives you a better look.

Don't care either way...most of the time I'm OOB but I've also found occasion where being a step onto the court has been beneficial to me along the sideline.

If you ever go to CIAA camp DO NOT do this. That supervisor is insistant that the administering official only concern himself with the thrower-in, the boundary line, and the immediate defender.

This whole topic is one of those areas that's not clearly defined in the Fed manual...thus you end up with clinicians and assigners insisting that their way is the best way to do it...further muddying the waters as to what is correct. Bottom line...I do whatever feels comfortable and gives me the best view of the floor. Closest arm up, hand across the body, step back, count with opposite hand. I've had exactly ONE partner question it in 12 years...and he has since disappeared from the ranks. Seems to me it's better to focus on getting a good view and understanding all that can go wrong on a throw in rather than how the ball gets made live.

I like it.....
 

but, what are you trying to say here? :eek:

Just that he was worried about the wrong things and eventually washed out. (not that he dared to question me and I eliminated him :) I am after all...The Bad Zebra)

Inquiring Minds Want To Know ???
 

No peeking at screens, and the possibility of illegal screens, in your primary coverage area? And no peeking at players in your primary coverage area pushing off to try to get open?

I knew what you meant
 

I was being sarcastic that the way it was written, you were questioned and ZAP, they were gone. Never question the BZ! ;)

Nope, that's up to the Center to help out with. Or the other strong-side official if it's a front court throw-in.

Fire Up the Flux Capacitor ...
 

What is this "Center" that you speak of? After I drive my black Ford Model T to my game, there's only one partner waiting for me. Connecticut is the "Land That Time (And Three Person Mechanics) Forgot".

Interesting...I used to do this until a D-I official suggested otherwise.

Then your comments don't apply. My post was for a specific camp, a college camp. And obviously it applied to a 3-man crew.

Do what works best for you in your games. But if (when) you go to the CIAA camp, and most officials in this area with college aspirations (NCAA-M or NCAA-W) attend the CIAA at least once in their career, then do it the Roman way.

Of course, and thanks for the advice.

At the camps I have been to here the OSSAA has explicitly told us not to step into the court. Always get wide and away from the inbounder, without bouncing the ball if staying in the frontcourt. If going the other way a bounce is okay. Once I was being evaluated in a game, and I bounced the ball to the inbounder and was a few steps in front of the endline when the inbound happened at the evaluator told me to never get in front of the play.

A lot of different opinions that will work given specific situations. The only pet peeve of mine is when officials raise their arm then hand the player the ball. It just doesn't look good to me. There is no rush so handing the ball, raising the arm and starting the count is better IMO.

I have a very specific way I handle this process, but at the end of the day my process is just something I do for consistency. I would suggest finding something that works, sticking to it and paying attention to other more pressing matters.

That's interesting. If I saw you hand the player the ball without your arm raised I would wonder why you did that when you weren't ready to go.

I do what Tommy does as to slow down my count. I am not in a hurry to count the 5 second count and has nothing to do with not being ready.

Peace

You'd be wondering the same thing about me then also. ;)

My reference to "looking clean" was for handing the ball to the inbounding player using the arm closest to him. If I'm standing to his left (he's between me and the lane/basket) I hand the ball with my right hand with left arm raised. Take a couple steps away from the player - staying out of bounds but not too far so I can see the vertical plane of the end line for violations - then put my whistle in mouth and start visible count with left hand after chopping the clock.

That all makes it sound like it's an eternity before my visible begins, but it's all fluid and works well, I think. Some evaluator is probably drooling over his chance to bite into me for that. :)

While I wouldn't want to put all of my ways on someone else, I think through almost everything and do things with some kind of logical thought.

1. I'm not in a hurry. This process slows things down.
2. Most of the time I bounce the ball with both hands and then raise my arm.
3. (heavily opinion based talking about myself) You know how something happens just as you are about to hand the ball to a player that keeps you from handing him/her the ball? It could be a sub, a partner isn't ready or anything that delays the inbounding. Yeah, I will not be that dufus holding his hand up the whole time OR having my hand up, lowering it because of the delay and then putting it back up.

I asked myself a long time ago, "Tom, what is the cleanest way to handle inbounding the ball?" And I answered, "Give the player the ball first, then raise your hand. It will look so much better." :D

Like I just said, I think everything through and I have a question for you. If we can agree, that raising your hand/arm cuts of part of your peripheral vision, and the player cuts off part of your vision beyond the player, which arm could we raise to cut off the least amount of vision? The arm closest to the player or furthest away from the player? This also assuming we agree that taking a step away/back after the player has the ball is a good practice.

This is opposite of the thought process I have for calling fouls or signalling three-point attempts, but since I'm not 6'8" the player will cut off my vision beyond the player anyway. Is that confusing?

I'm hoping no one is turned away from the thrower so far that their arm even gets into the field of vision that matters. Even if they raise the arm closest to the thrower, it should only be blocking stuff that is OOB behind the thrower.

When this was first talked about, I had to think about what I did and this is almost exactly my logic. I also bounce the ball with both hands and then when they have the ball, I raise my arm. I worked tonight and found myself trying to figure out what I actually did based on what we talked about on this site. I always found it a bit much to put my arm up the entire time. So if someone finds is odd that I do this, I would have to ask them why or what difference does it make? Again I think there are things that people do personally that really make no difference in the bigger picture. This makes absolutely no difference IMO.

Peace

I agree with Jeff. I don't think there's anything inherently better about either method.

I guess it just doesn't bother me to put my hand down if something interrupts the restart.

This will vary depending on the extent of your peripheral vision, but when my arm is straight up, it's outside of my field of vision. I don't see it until the very end of chopping the clock and then just my hand. So I'm not blocking my vision either way.

Not TOO confusing. ;)

Seriously, though, I understand what you are saying. And, it's something I give thought to quite a bit when concentrating on my mechanics. In the situation I described earlier (me ---> player -----> lane), I've settled on the left arm raised, right hand handoff/bounce, left hand chop/count. Backing away two or three good steps opens up plenty of space for me to see all critical areas. If the inbound pass is directly to a teammate cutting towards the bucket, I move to improve, and move quickly.

On outside 3FGAs, I raise my outer arm so my view of the shooter, lane and rebounding action isn't obstructed.

Of course, there are situations where an official's view won't be exactly perfect and that's just the human factor. I'd like to think my mechanics give me the highest pctg opportunity to see most plays as clearly as possible. I'm always open to new techniques, though.

I agree, it isn't that big of a deal, but I do think it looks better to raise the arm after handing the player the ball.

We must be physically different or I have some good peripheral vision. To get my arm out of my peripheral vision requires me to reach back uncomfortably.

+1