Seeing the penaltys
 

I had my first 3 games today. A little shaky for sure and im still learning the proper mechanics, rules, signals etc. What gets me ,though, is how the veteran guys can so easily see a penalty that I never saw! A block in the back or a hold, they recognize it so easily. I understand that im working with officials that have a lot more experience then me but im working Midget games it shouldnt be so difficult right? I mean if midget football moves to fast for me then how will I do when I get to the Varsity level?

Anyway I was wondering about advice for a new official. Was it like that for you to and over time and through experience things slowed down and became easier? Its kinda overwhelming when a play develops my way like im trying to hard to see everything. Any advice would be helpful and much appreciated.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You are looking for fouls. Penalties are punishment for the fouls.

Huts, you've gotten some good advice here. I attended a clinic a few years back with some NFL and NCAA officials. I won't mention a name because I'm not sure who it was that said it, but we were told that officials progress through phases.

In the first phase, like you're describing, the game seems to move at 100 MPH and everything is a blur. You can't tell a hold from a block in the back.

As you continue the game starts to slow down and soon you're seeing EVERYTHING. You have holding against the OLB on the other side of the field. You see a facemask at the LOS when the ball carrier is in your zone. Etc, etc... And you flag each and every one of these offenses.

And then, you learn to watch what you're responsible for and start making better decisions on the field.

Hang in there. Work as much as you can. Ask questions and listen to the answers.

After a while you'll see the fouls getting ready to happen before they actually do.

Guys I'm in the same boat as the original poster. I've been doing baseball at the high school and college level for a number of years. In baseball, everything happens basically in one spot - where the ball is. I'm having the same exact problem seeing what everyone is doing.

One thing I need help on - when I DO call a penalty, I never get the number of the guy because I turn my attention to something else and officiate the rest of the play. It's easy on some penalties to ID and say "right tackle" or "near wide receiver," but most of the time I throw a flag then keep officiating elsewhere. The coach always asks what number and I never have it for him and feel like a moron and like I can't justify my penalty unless I get one. Do you guys have any tricks on how to get the number of the person who committed the foul?

If I'm on the sideline I repeat the numbers of my key and his opponent to myself at least three times as everyone is getting set (sometimes more).
After a play has progressed there is not much else you can do, except try to remember to take a look at the number when you see the foul, and repeat it to yourself.
And sometimes you will never get the number.

Try hard and do what you can, but just slot in in as something you need to (and can) improve on.

I'm ALWAYS forgetting to punch back on backwards passes.

You're at the point where it's no longer a blur out there. You're seeing fouls, but you're coming into the play late. What I mean by that is generally you're seeing the end of the foul. You see an offensive player with his arm wrapped around the defender, so you have a hold. You see an offensive player with his hands in the middle of the defender's back and the defender goes flying, so you have a BIB. You miss the culprit's number because you only saw the end of the foul before you had to continue officiating.

You're not seeing the foul before it happens, and that only comes with experience. With experience you'll be able to see that the LB has crossed the TE's face, so there might be a hold. You'll be able to see the angle that the WR has on the DB as the DB moves up to make the tackle, so there might be a BIB. When you see the whole play you'll find it's not hard to get the number. Obviously there are some you can't -- a mass of defenders and one of them grasps the facemask. But you'll get most of them. Keep focusing and it will come.

Hut, one of the main differences between you and the veteran officials is that they are not having to think as much as you are. They are working a well-established routine which you do not yet have. As everyone else has said, you are probably trying to do too much. I am assuming you are working wing positions and will continue to do so for a while, yet. Right now, you need to work on identifying formations and your pre-snap signals to your far wing and learn to read your key. Midget ball is almost always going to be a run, but as you get the bigger kids, you are going to have to be able to do this to prevent yourself from getting caught out of position on pass plays with a four man mechanic. Knowing your key and the players and section of the field you are responsible for will help slow the game way down for you. Having the head knowledge of what to do and actually getting your body to do it are two seperate things. It is numerous snaps that mesh the two together. As others have said, once you get this down, you add a couple of other things you feel you need to focus on since keys and players your responsible for are now second nature. Don't get frustrated with where you are, just work on getting better. These early days are something everyone had and has to go through. It's just part of it-no substitute for snaps. All of us have gone through this time where it feels like they are always snapping the ball before you are ready. Again, don't worry or get rattled, just do what you can on that play. Pretty soon, you will be twiddling your thumbs waiting on them to finally snap the ball. Football officiating is a lot like a golf swing, it gets good when you don't have to think about the mechanics of it. One other thing that might help you. You will be ten times better the next time you work, because you are mentally processing the games you worked and you have gotten the butterflies out of the way. The next time you will get that nervous is your first varsity game and your first white hat assignment. Good luck and keep studying.

Hut I was a first year wing official last year at pop warner and frosh/jv level just keep the play in front of you and dont go looking for fouls. Know your crossfield mechanics and communicate with the other flank. By week 7 or so I started having a much easier time identifying holding, illegal block fouls. Make sure to dead ball officiate, hustle, show confidence in talking to coaches, and morst importantly learn how to take constructive criticism from senior officials as they will help you get better every week. At the end of every game last year I would make notes of any feedback the white hat gave me so I did not repeat the mistake the following week. I saw a lot of fellow first year guys talk back and piss off a lot of white hats, I did not follow that route and have gotten Varisty fill in assigments for year 2 and should definitely make a Varsity crew in year 3, which is the rule for my association.

Good luck

Thanks for the advice I do appreciate being able to pick the minds of as many veterans as I can. Anything I can do to learn