"safe" signal

[Andy]

First of all, I only work HS volleyball using NFHS rules.

I have noticed several of my fellow officials using a "safe" signal to indicate that there is nothing to call on a particular play.

I am wondering where this might have come from. I have never been told to use this signal in any VB training I have been to. Now, our training for HS officials the last few years has been sorely lacking, but I still have not been instructed to use this signal from any official source.

I'm not referring to the "legal back row attack" signal as shown in the NFHS book using a single arm on one side of the net.

Did the use of the "safe" signal originate in other VB codes or sanctions?

[FMadera]

It's something you want to avoid. If there's something NOT safe, you'd blow your whistle.

[outathm]

+1

[MCBear]

Andy, I would hazard a guess that the officials using that "safe" signal only officiate HS volleyball since there is not any "safe" signal used in any of the other volleyball rules codes (NCAA & USAV/FIVB) and they do not belong to an officials association having members who ref the other rules codes. Sounds like a case of the blind leading the blind. However, when you encounter the situation, ask the official why he used that signal and where he learned to use it since there is not any rules book or case book justification.

As Felix posted, it is something to avoid. It does not serve any useful purpose. If there is a fault, blow the whistle. When you use signal 7 (Legal Attack), you are conveying that you saw either the ball partially below the top of the net or the player behind the attack line when the ball was contacted. A "safe" sign is not an approved signal under any rules code and indicates nothing.