Difficulty reading alignment violations

[officialtony]

I did a scrimmage last night and had a very difficult time reading overlaps. Is there someplace where I can get good descriptive advice on how to read back-row-setters positioning clues or something that will help me learn to interpret that when the receiving team is set up a certain way, I know it is a back row setter and where they all should be aligned?
I am only recently doing the level where this appears to be ( or will be ) commonplace, and I want to be sure I am correct in my calls/no-calls.

Thanks in advance.

[FMadera]

Tony,

I believe the casebook has some of the more common alignments listed. You may want to check that.

In addition, a good thing to remember is that teams will either be in a "right-left-middle" rotation, in which the setter is considered a right side, or "left-right-middle," which is much less commonplace, where the setter again is considered a right.

Once you know which system a team uses, and you know which players are playing which positions, it should be easy to know who should be where. If you know, for example, that the setter is middle back, you should be able to spot the left side to her right. If the setter is right back, that left side player (RF) should be in front of her.

Try this at a match in which you are NOT officiating, but just watching. At the collegiate level, where we don't get to use lineup cards, it makes instant identification so much easier.

[refnrev]

Tony, When I was first starting I had the same problem, then one night in a Jr High game the light bulb went on and it just began to jump out at me. Same for back row attack. Give yourself a few games and see if you don't post that you've begun to see it.

[MCBear]

good posts with excellent advice, guys!

Like refnrev said, you will be working and then all of a sudden, the alignment will just jump out at you and you will be able to see and recognize where the players are and who is supposed to be where.

[officialtony]

Thanks for the advice AND encouragement!
I hope it comes to me just that way - and soon!

Thanks for the responses.

[Vb Scrub]

Another thing to watch for in out of rotation is the libero. I have done college matches and club matches where the libero just goes in and plays defense where they want to. Sometimes it was accidental, other times it was intentional. I had a club team tell me the libero could go in and stay in middle back the whole time without regard to the correct service rotation.

Watch out for who the libero replaces and where that position is on the court to make sure the libero stays in the correct rotation.

I don't know about H.S. but in college I have had to watch for the outside hitters who are also the primary passers. If they are always passing then in many rotations they run close to overlapping, especially when the OH are in positions 3 and 6 on the court and both are passing.

[TimTaylor]

Lots of good tips!

I agree with refnrev...keep working on it and one day it will just click.

Since NFHS still requires a line up card, use it to your advantage. Don't make it a crutch, but have it for an occasional reference as needed. A tip one of our more experienced officials gave me is to memorize the setter & her opposite, then when you get that down, her two adjacents. It makes recognizing illegal alignments a lot easier, and really comes in handy when you start looking at things like front row/back row.

[refnrev]

Tony,
The one thing I forgot to mention was that for me, I began to see it from the stand before I could see it from the floor. I'm sure I still miss more overlapping than I should. I know my partners caught some in a scrimmage last night that I certainly didn't see. Like everything, you get better at it with experience --- I hope!