Froze Twice
 

Hello

I am a 1st year official and my season has been going pretty well until my last game. I felt I did an extremely poor job! I have always received compliments on my proper mechanics and my movement to get in position but this last game was horrible. I made some bad calls and then I absolutely froze on two plays under the basket that were very very obvious fouls. For some reason I didn't blow my whistle and my partner made the call from across the floor to save me. I was really embarrassed but went through the game with as much confidence as possible. I talked to my partner about the situation and he just said it happens to everyone. My assignor showed for part of the game and said he liked what he saw but he didn't see my two freezes. He has assigned me a tough game for today and was just looking for a bit of advice. Thanks!

It is your first year, come off the ledge. We all had times, situations or games where we did not preform well. It was just a bad situation, do not treat it like a tragedy. No one expects you to be the best of the best at all times at this time of your career that has officiating experience. Learn from the experience and try not to repeat the situation. You know how it feels, and unless you like the feeling do better and find out what it takes to do better. Maybe you just were not focused or thinking too much. It happens to even veterans, but most of us know why we did what we did to not make it a consistent thing.

You will be just fine. Use every game as a learning experience. You just learned something. That makes it a great day. ;)

Peace

It's a new game. We have all been there where we didn't have our best game the previous night - you can learn from it but it's over.

You get the chance to get back on the saddle tonight and redeem yourself. Have a good pre-game and work hard.

That's happened to me before as well. My advice is to move on from it and go out to your next game as confidently as possible. If you assignor liked what he saw, obviously he has confidence in you. Chalk it up to experience and have a great game today.

I don't even REMEMBER my first year. If you stick with this, you'll get to the same place.

Move on, it's a new day.

Let it go, it's over. But, remember those instances under the basket. Don't dwell on them, but remember them. Use them to your advantage.

Years ago I was new trail entering the front court...there was a pass and crash. I froze, didn't know what to do. My partner bailed me out- I remember the play, and haven't missed that particular call since. That I remember, anyway.

As most guys have said, I can relate to that. Tonight is a new night, and it is good that you can recognize a game like that. What you must remember during a game is that you can't let one missed call or freeze turn into two. I struggled with that when I was playing, and I struggle with that at times when I officiate. It is tough sometimes to stay calm and stay focused, but you can't do anything about previous misses. All you can do is go and work hard to get the next one right.

May I ask if your working a lot of games--every night? Sometimes what happens is if you work a lot you get burned out which can cause you to lose your focus. If this is the case perhaps a few days away from the court might be in order. Just sayin'

I couldn't agree more with not letting one bad call turn into two. This is my 3rd year as a varsity official, but my first with a new association after moving, I think because of this I found myself nervous early in the season wanting badly to make a good impression with my new partners.

One of my first games as the lead right off the jump ball I called a foul on a drive to the basket and as soon as my fist was in the air I regretted it. Nothing too terrible to ruin my credability I just personally knew it wasn't a foul. After the free throws I'm running down the court as new lead kicking myself over the call, and a lost dribble rolls out of bounds on the sideline (Yes, the new Trails sideline), for some reason I blow my whistle, say "White" (Correctly), but point towards blue. I wanted to crawl into a hole as I could only imagine what my partners were thinking at this point.

Luckily a quick timeout came, one of my partners approached me and I just said ignore those first two whistles I'm starting this game over in my mind. He laughed and said something reassuring and we were able to go on and have a great rest of the game.

Long drawn out point being, it happens!! You can't let it carry over to the next night or even the next play, file it away to discuss at halftime or post game and worry about getting the next one right, which you will if you're focused!!

I didn't have my best game yesterday, either, and my interpreter was in the stands evaluating. I believe that will be a blessing, in the long run.

The best remedy for a bad game is the next game.

Amen, brother.

Truer words were never spoken.

It happens, even to us veterans, from time to time. Heck, last night I kicked the &^#* out of a incredibly obvious call.

Life goes on. Tonight is another game (2, actually).

I always tell first-year guys to pick one thing every game to work on improving. Just one. So, figure out what you want to work on during today's game, and do it.

You'll be fine.

When I am having trouble leaving a game or a play behind, I have to go to my "pre-shot routine". Get to my spot, identify my primary, identify which team is on defense and start reffing.

Just like a pre-shot routine for a golf shot or a free throw. Do the same thing over and over so it puts you in a position to be successful then let it happen naturally.

If the plays were under the basket try to break down what went wrong.

Where were you at the time of the contact? Too wide? Too close to the endline?

Did you locate the defender and ref the defense? Were you ball watching and got surprised by the contact?

Did you have cheerleaders behind you that were too close to the court or interfered with your positioning?

As most have said, you need to not dwell on a bad night but learn from it. As veterans we can usually figure out why we kicked something. In most cases it comes from being out of position or losing focus.

So don't worry about the misses, work on they reasons why you might have missed it. Spend your next game nailing your positioning and with self-talk...as lead run down the steps to getting it right in your head. Hit your spot, find your defenders, find your match ups, be aware of the ball, find the pivot foot etc...

What is really bad is when everyone in the gym knows a foul was committed, you know with every fiber of your being it was a player control foul, you have perfect position, blow your whistle and come out strong with "BLOCK!" :eek:

Unfortunately there are no holes on the court for you to crawl into...

By the way, this did not happen to me...another official in a camp ran by the guy who had the loudest voice when it came to state tournament assignments.

Well as long as nobody else had a second whistle with a charge call you can fix it, no? ;)

Sage advice from your partner. In my fourteenth season and I had one Saturday start bad with a opening tip/backcourt screw up followed by a messed up posession arrow...followed by a missed last second shot...followed by T'ing up the visiting coach. It got worse with each minute until the half ended.

I was anxious to get to the next game (last night) and turned it around. Don't dwell on it. It will happen from time to time.

Just remember - you can toss all the coaches. Go ahead. It's really fun. :)

Whether you're a new official (such as yourself), a 2nd year official (me), or a seasoned veteran, you're going to have games like this.

Last month, I had to call my first unsporting T on a coach in a 7th grade boys game. I was so flustered for the rest of the game and my games the next day to the point it affected my officiating. :( Thankfully, I had a 9th grade girls game a few days later and it went smoothly enough that it helped restore my self-confidence -- and I had fun in the process with a partner I've worked well with in the past.

Try to treat every game as a learning experience. If you freeze on a particular play, try to think about what made you freeze and how you might address it if the same play happens in your next game. The next game on the schedule is the perfect chance to put your previous game's issues aside and start fresh. Bad games will always creep up when you least expect them. but having the right attitude can help make the next game a better one.

Hang in there and good luck for the rest of your season.

This may or may not apply to you, but here is one thing that happens. You see the foul (obvious or not) but, for whatever reason, you hesitate. Then you react: "OH NO! Why didn't I blow the whistle?? Well, it's too late now....."
It isn't too late. Go ahead and blow it. A bit late is acceptable, and much better than anticipating something that didn't happen and blowing it too early.

Better Late Than Never ...
 

Agree.

Also, when a train wreck occurs, and you not sure if it's a block, or a charge, guess, and then really sell it. If you're wrong, it won't be the last time in your long, and distinguished, career that you make a bad call. Train wrecks need a whistle.

I froze twice as well this week. 1st time home team down 1, A1 has back to basket turns and hooks B1 with the elbow. It was late in the game and I just missed it. Visiting ended up winning anyway.
Next game same night..Train wreck under the basket, B1 got hurt sliding under airborne A1, both ended up on floor. I just froze.
Partner said he could have called either play as I seen it. I felt bad for missing the calls because these were (2) very good, well played games. I thought I did fine the rest of the games, but still those (2) plays stick w/ me. I will get them next time and you will too.