Officiating 101 - The Jump Ball
 

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This is part of an instructional series that I'm working on. Thoughts...

Jump Ball
 

Nice job with the basics needed to know.
Have regularly used your compilation of jump ball plays entitled, "The Fine Art of the Toss." Makes for good group and/or individual instruction.
Thanx.

I think we should always fake the first toss to see how high the jumpers can actually jump. :D

You Should See The Expression On His Face ...
 

I like to step on the shoe of the taller of the two jumpers, just to make it fair.

Inquiring minds want to know?
 

How does this make it fair? ;)

In the video the umpire is about six feet away from the division line. That seems too far away from the book position.
The first time that you mention the jump ball ending, you don't list the ball contacting an official. The second time that this comes up, the official is listed.

Although in the vast majority of jump ball situations, the U goes to L and the R to T, there are cases in which the Umpire becomes the Trail following the toss. For example if the ball is knocked close to an end line and saved by a player of the team going the other direction. Someone must get down there to see that he was inbounds.

What do you mean by the words "move down the court opposite the ball" when talking about the Umpire taking his usual position as Lead following the toss? I found it confusing because the umpire stays tableside no matter where the ball goes.

Lastly, a couple of notes mentioning the three feet depth of the spaces occupied by players around the circle and the consequences of that would be nice. Such as non-jumpers further away from the circle than this three feet are permitted to be moving during the toss (too many officials believe that everyone must 'hold their spots'), plus one about players around the circle not being allowed to stand behind an opponent.

Happens Enough to Pregame It
 

Good Point.
This happens enough, albeit only twice or so each season, that it merits a regular pre-game mention. Especially with a three-man crew.
The video doesn't, of course, mention everything involving a jump ball scenerio, but it is a good, basic learning tool for new officials.
Another unmentioned scenerio: held ball between two opponents after the jump ball before team control is established results in jump ball between those two players at the center jump circle. That's also happened enough to merit pre-game mention.
Shucks, there's some veterans who could learn from it, too. :o

Let's see..... at 0:33 statement #2 has "restraining" misspelled, unless you really meant "restaining circle". At 0:48, a sentence appears that should have a comma between "mouth" and "step". At 0:53 the word "to" should appear before the phrase "toss the ball".

All times listed are approximate and I'll be glad to edit the rest of the video for a fee of one bagel. :)

Just let me know where to send the bagel! You guys are awesome!

"Hold Your Spots" ...
 

Amen (unless, of course, all the nonjumpers are leopards).

I assume he means that if the ball goes right, the U goes left and vice versa -- that's the "usual" happening, but there are plenty of exceptions.

Is the jump ball "legally touched" when touched by a jumper? Or when touched by a non jumper?

Legally touched by the jumper will start the clock. Jump ball restrictions end when the ball is touched by a nonjumper, an official, the floor or the backboard.

If a jumper secures the ball with both hands or touches the ball before it reaches its highest point the clock should not start as it is an illegal touch. If a jumper taps the ball 3 times, the clock would start as the first touch is legal.

In addition to what other have mentioned, the only thing I would add is to replay the entire jump ball sequence from beginning to end at the conclusion of the instructional part. This way the observer sees the 'parts' of the jump ball, but also gets the whole picture as well. Well done.

All good input... I will go back and edit and make additional changes. Thanks everyone for their good advice.

Why is the umpire not on the division line? Is that an area mechanic?

Peace

No just where he started. Perhaps he wanted the table to have a good site line to the ball. Who knows...

I do that in 2-man just for that exact reason. I usually hedge towards the direction I think will win the tap.

I got that, but I would tell them not to do that. For one if the ball goes the other way, he now has a longer way to go and might get beat worse than he would have normally. Also he is the one that chops the clock, so there is no need for the table to have a perfect few. If they start the clock how they are supposed to watch the umpire, not the play. I just think that is a bad mechanic and for those that always want to reference a book, I have never seen a book that states you are on one side or the other (maybe it has changed).

Peace

Ok, I just revised the video with changes all thanks to you guys. Check out it out, its now the edited version 2.2.

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I think that it has been positively improved in many ways.

I would change one thing from this version. At 3:48 the use of the phrase "following the resumption of play procedure" is inaccurate. The RPP has a specific definition given in rule 4 and it likely won't be happening in the case mentioned. So instead write "following the ball being placed at Team B's disposal for the throw-in."

Ok - edited 2.1

shouldn't the Umpire be chopping with the left hand, which would be the hand closest to the table and clock operator?

Some areas and people do suggest such things but none of the mechanics systems actually require it.

There are a few in our area that insist that your 10-count be with the table side arm. There is no need. If you're doing a proper arm swing and they can't see the arm moving on the far side, they're not going to see it on the near side either.

Such requirements are fabrications by people that just want something else to find fault in.

In fact, we have a contingent of officials that insist that your signals look exactly like they look in the signal diagrams as far was how to hold the fingers and thumb and such but then those same officials insist that the counts be with the side closest to the table even though the pictures show it being done only with the right arm.

I May Be Left Handed, But I'm Always Right ...
 

I'm a stickler for proper signals, but I couldn't care less regarding which hand, or arm, that they are made with. If you were to ask me which arm an official made a signal with after a call, right, or left, I couldn't tell you, no way, ever. But if you asked me which foot was a player's pivot foot, right, or left, after a travel call, I could tell you all day, and all night.