Another use for net measuring tool

[DaveASA/FED]

Ok the last thread about pulling your chain, or stretching the chain made me think about this. I was working with an experienced official and he took his net measuring chain and hung it right next to the antenna and used it as a plumb bob to see if the antenna was aligned with the outer portion of the side line and also to see if the antenna was running straight with relationship with the net. It was one of the those MAJOR DUH moments to me....never even crossed my mind to do that, but it worked slicker than heck! It was amazing how far off an antenna that looked good eyeballing it actually was!

So I ask do any of you have secret tricks like this one?

[refnrev]

[QUOTE=DaveASA/FED]Ok the last thread about pulling your chain, or stretching the chain made me think about this. I was working with an experienced official and he took his net measuring chain and hung it right next to the antenna and used it as a plumb bob to see if the antenna was aligned with the outer portion of the side line and also to see if the antenna was running straight with relationship with the net. It was one of the those MAJOR DUH moments to me....never even crossed my mind to do that, but it worked slicker than heck! It was amazing how far off an antenna that looked good eyeballing it actually was!
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I usually just "eyeball" it.

[Grrrrller87]

not secret, and not mine, but I use it. When I check the balls before a match, I try to mark each with the same kind of ink marking. It needs to be small, so that the ball doesn't become a mess by year end..... then if the ball gets tossed in with some other balls, or rolls to another court and someone starts practice serving it, we can identify this as one of the game balls without having to re-test it.

I typically try to fill in an 'e'. 'o'. or 'a' in the writing around the stem, just so I know which one.

[MCBear]

After I have gaged the game balls, I put a small letter "G" around the air inlet so that I know by looking which balls have been checked.

[Retrozetti]

Originally Posted by Grrrrller87

When I check the balls before a match, I try to mark each with the same kind of ink marking... then if the ball gets tossed in with some other balls, or rolls to another court and someone starts practice serving it, we can identify this as one of the game balls without having to re-test it.

I use the net chain to align the antenna, I also mark the ball(s). Here's a few more:
A. In my pre-matches, I tell the LJ's that there are 4 outcomes to a rally: 1) In, 2) Out, 3) Touch, or 4) I didn't see... I stress that "I didn't see" is acceptable and "guessing" is totally unacceptable... it helps.
B. In most matches, I mentally keep track of the score. Especially if another team is the support crew on a youth court... trust me, catching an inaccurate scoreboard "before" the parents quiets them for the rest of the match, and has saved me countless minutes of "clean-up" because a few times it was wrong because the scorekeeper had also forgotten to record the previous point... huge time-saving trick!
C. With no ball shaggers, at the end of each "game" I look to see where the game ball bounced to, so that it can be retrieved for the next game instead of wasting time trying to find it or replace it.
D. I keep a cornucopia of whistles in my bag... inevitably, I'm using the same whistle as both refs on either side of me; therefore the players get confused... so I switch out to a different whistle (sound) for my court's benefit.
Hope this helps.

[jkumpire]

When I meet with LJ's I give them a secret sign:

"If you are not sure, take your left hand, make it into a fist with the thumb on top of the fingers, then flick your thumb in the air."

"If you think I didn't see the sign then mouth the words "flip a --"

If they don't use flags, I give them a big set of signals to use:

1. If they don't know, Cover their eyes
2. If they didn't hear it, cover their ears,
3. If they heard the coach yell at them cover their mouth,
4. If they don't like my overrule, hold their nose, and I then run them from the gym....