Hello all,
I have been reading alot on this site and it seems helpful, I was recently an Umpire for the last 5 years, and have seen alot of help and advise for our fellow umps to-be. Which is great, I have passed it all on to my Ump. Thanks. Now for a little help for me, Any advise, of some common mistakes a first year Ref. would make, and some proper mechanics, besides the more common ones. Any thing would help!! I have been assigned a couple of big games, I really didn't think that I would get. Any advise would be app.


[Edited by otis3zeb on Aug 17th, 2002 at 06:50 PM]

No-body has help????
 

No-1 can help me with this, I know someone has some pointers out there!! Only good advise though, Thanks.

Heres some tips.
 

Hi Otis. Its nice to see a "U" get the call to be a "R"!

Here are some qualities I like to see in my referee:

1. I like a referee who requires every crew member to participate in the pregame conference.
2. I like a referee who hustles and helps relay the ball to me if necessary.
3. I like a referee who has a nice steady tempo to his ready for play and keeps the game moving.
4. I like a referee who takes enough time to administer penalties properly.
5. I like a referee who coordinates our coverage in the middle. For example, which players to key on at the snap so we don't overlap and miss coverage somewhere else.

I would teach your head linesman and umpire to work together on penalty enforcement. Have you been practicing your signals? Doing them in the mirror is a good practice. If you use a microphone now is a good time to practice how you are going to announce penalties. Usually the microphone is not used for the preliminary signal. You have a lot to look for on passing and kicking plays. Was the arm moving forward or backwards? Was the pass forward or backwards? Mental review of all possible play situations and the proper mechanics will help you make the call. You always have to protect the QB, kicker and holder. I know that some of the things the referee is supposed to look for prior to the snap are false starts and snap infractions. But I think you should tell your U, HL, and LJ to focus on these so you can concentrate on legal and illegal shifts by the backs. Of course, you can still keep the offensive line and snap in your field of vision. The HL an LJ can help you with flankers and slotbacks that are closer to their coverage area and field of vision.

I have an idea. Why don't you type a mental check list for referees? Then we can review it and add our observations and experiences.

Thanks Mike,

Thats a great idea, I will get that ready and in the meantime you the same if thats O.K. I'm heading to bed right now, but I wanted to post this thank-you in case I'm not back in a while, First game is 30th, open on the 23rd.
Thanks again, and any others would be gladly app.

Common mistakes:

- Preliminary signals - they really do look at them

- Taking leadership and control - you are the person they look to for leadership, that is, your crew, the players and the coaches. If anything goes wrong it is under your watch. Organize a thorough pregame. Let the crew know your are in charge and what you expect. Does not mean you dictate but exercise discretion.

- Working with game management - make sure you have all the information about halftime and pregame activities. My first game the home team wanted a 25 minute halftime. I told them sure, as long as you do it in 20.

- Being too close to the play - referee starts out at about 11 or 12 yards in back of the LOS and stays back to get a full view of the play.