Seeing the penaltys

[Time2Ref]

Anything worth doing.....blah, blah, blah.

Of course it's hard. If it wasn't, blah, blah, blah.

You just have to see a lot of snaps. See as many as you can, blah, blah. blah.

Work on one or two things each game. Concentrate on working on those two things and keep working on them untill you got them down. Then work on two other things......

Which two things do you work on? I always sit down after a game and write down everything I can remember about the game. It becomes pretty easy to see what you want (need) to work on.

I'd write more, but I'm sure that a lot of other people will be checking in with a lot of good advice.

[HLin NC]

Snaps- he's right. There's no substitute.

Try not to focus too tightly. Yes you have your area of responsibility but if you focus too tightly on say, the runner, you may miss that illegal block just in front of him.

Once you can work at a level where the games are filmed, try to get a copy of your game. If you work a local JV game, contact the coach later that week and see if they'll loan or make an extra DVD. It amazing what you see when you can watch yourself in action. It will definitely help you clean up any sloppiness in your mechanics that maybe you don't even realize.

[Forksref]

The hardest thing for me when I started doing FB was that there were 22 guys moving at the same time and what do I look at?

First, learn your keys (what to start watching before and right after the snap).

Then, the big rule: Watch Players Not The Ball. Watch the players in FRONT of the runner. That is where the fouls are. It's hard not to watch the runner when you start out, but you need to break that habit.

Also, it helps to know the classification of fouls within a foul, e.g., The Categories of Holding: Take down, Collar leverage w/restriction, Shirt stretch, Turn and twist, Grab and restrict, Hook and restrict. This will help you know what you are seeing out there.

Try these things and you will surely improve your ability to see the fouls.

[jaybird]

First of all and perhaps most importantly, study and know the definitions. During, or after, a play you don't see a penalty, you see a foul.

Focus on your area and your keys, don't watch the ball. Snaps are the only way to improve on seeing all the action and being able to judge whether there is a foul or not. Philosophy and advantage/disadvantage must be learned by study and then applied during live action. Don't be in a big hurray, slow down.

[ajmc]

Understand, that when the ball is snapped, all hell breaks loose and if you try and concentrate on that forest, you won't see any trees. Break down your focus to those things you are responsible for, because your crewmates are each responsible for parts that you don't have to be concerned about.

It starts before the snap, you don't have to see it all, just your area of responsibility. Understand what YOUR area is, and concentrate there, your crewmates will take care of the rest of things. As a wing official, before the snap, and just after it, step through specific keys; identify who's eligible and who's not, focus on the LOS between the snapper and you, concentrating on movement by the offenseive linemen, or encroachment by the defense.

After the snap your focus shifts, recognize where the ball is going and what the QB's movements suggest, be aware of what the receivers on your side of the line do, and where they start to go, try and understand which way the linemen are blocking, retreating for pass blocking, pulling, or opening a hole. There's a lot going on, but the more snaps you look at, you'll find the more you'll be able to see.

Depending on whether you're in a 4 man or 5 man crew, you may, or may not, have have support deep, so you have to honor the receiver going deep. There's a rythm to the game and events usually happen in sequence, and you will learn to recognize the sequences.

You just have to understand and accept that you will NEVER see everything. All you can see is what you're looking at, and there are multiple things happening at different places but as you get more accustomed to the different flows, you'll inherently be looking at the right things.

Don't be embarrassed or defensive about not seeing things others may think they saw . Although it's usually best to try and ignore questions, or comments, like, "Didn't you see that.......", there are only two possible answers; "No, I didn't" or "Yes I did, but I didn't think it was what you think it was".

Only you will be able to decide when, or if, to choose to respond to such questions, or simply ignore them, but you're not taking a poll, so what benefit does responding offer? Silence is an answer, unless the person asking the question is really not interested in any answer.