Study materials

[hutsunuwu84]

I am curious what you guys do to study and to help you memorize the rules of the game. I try so very hard to sit and read the rules books but it never seems to fail that I get about 5 pages in and I fall asleep. Seriously! I fully undertand the importance of having a solid knowledge of the rules but I cant seem to find a way to learn the rules without boring myself to death.

What do you do to learn the rules? How do you study? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Any links to learning materials or anything that might help me to learn the rules better would go a long way towards making me a better official.

[With_Two_Flakes]

I don't try to read the Rule book like a novel, because it sure isn't! It's not a page turner (as you have discovered), there's no happy ending and you can't figure out who dunnit.

Instead use it as a reference book and go hunt down the correct Rule references to answer some test questions. Or use the Forum questions from here or RefStripes. I find that technique helps me.

Talk to the experienced guys in your officials chapter, it's likely they will have copies of old tests you can use.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by hutsunuwu84

What do you do to learn the rules? How do you study? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Any links to learning materials or anything that might help me to learn the rules better would go a long way towards making me a better official.

I always think you should start with the Simplified and Illustrated book. Then start reading the casebook. In my opinion none of this really matters until you work games and you see some of these things happen, or close to those things happening. Because it is really hard to put things like PSK or clean hands until you have seen them up close. Kind of like having an "aaaahhhaaaa" moment. Of course that is not the case with every rule, but many of the complicated situations are learned by experience.

Peace

[AUgrad2006]

I learned a lot from the Reddings guide which takes the rules and puts them into a more "narrative" manner and interjects more case play situations as that particular rule is discussed (rather than having to go back and forth between the rule book and the case book).

I also learn a significant amount from discussions of plays with senior officials and reading/participating in forums like this.

[Welpe]

I second the Redding Guide. It is an invaluable tool. Try to take the book in chunks, read a small section at a time, fully digesting what the rules are saying. Rule 2 and 10 are your two most important rules. I would start with Rule 2 first to get a foundation for your definitions because they are used throughout the book. Rule 10 is penalty enforcement.

Definitely do not start at page 1 and just go. You will drive yourself crazy.

[HLin NC]

I would second Welpe's comments. Reddings is the most helpful of all the supplemental materials I've ever purchased but even then, I would suggest "small bites" when reading it.

I have also occasionally diagrammed the play on paper. There are even football field diagrams you can download and print if need be.

For me, the case book has actually been the hardest to read. They run so many different scenarios into one paragraph that it gets confusing. I have found it helpful to break down and parse each segment (a,b, and c) separately.

In reality, I've found the case book to read like word problems in a math book- " A train leaves Chicago at 9:00 and another train leaves Los Angeles at 11:30. How many bananas did the monkey eat?"

I only use the case book when I'm trying to apply a rule reference.

[hutsunuwu84]

Thanks guys. I do like the simplified and illustrated version and I also find the casebook to be confusing, it makes my head spin sometimes. Where can I find the Reddings guide?

[PocketSidewalk]

Originally Posted by Welpe

I second the Redding Guide. It is an invaluable tool.

Definitely do not start at page 1 and just go. You will drive yourself crazy.

As a new official, I have to agree with Welpe on this. My first attempt at studying the rules was to sit down with the rule book and read it from beginning to end. But the rule book is really not meant to be read this way.

I found myself reading a section of the rules and then having to cross-reference what I was reading with other rule book chapters and case book plays in order to completely understand what that rule meant. This method works fine if you're only interested in say 1 or 2 particular sections. But if you're trying to go through and learn all the rules, it's a very tedious and slow-paced method (no matter how enthusiastic you are).

I though the Simplified and Illustrated book was also helpful.

As for the Rules by Topic that is also published by NFHS, I didn't find it that helpful. It's well-organized in addition to including case book plays, but the language in the book is mostly pulled directly from the rule book (which I think can be tricky to comprehend at times).

[Welpe]

I've found the rules by topic to be more useful when you want to do a deep dive on a particular aspect of the rules.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by PocketSidewalk

As a new official, I have to agree with Welpe on this.

Agreeing with Welpe is NOT required of new officials. I'm just sayin'.