Interesting evaluation

[PaREF]

Being the Rules Interpreter for our PIAA chapter I get many calls throughout the season concerning rules and officials mechanics. I received a call today about some information that one of the officials in our chapter received following a playoff match that he worked on Monday.

We use certified officials as line judges during the playoffs. After the match, the evaluator told this official that he followed the ball too much. He was R1! He said that he didn't understand what she meant by "following the ball too much". She told him that on a spike attempt, he shouldn't follow the ball but instead stay focused on the net for a second or two to catch net violations. She said that the R2 called a few net violations that he should have caught.

He told her that he had always been taught to follow the ball as R1 (he has been officiating for over 20 years and works many college matches during the fall) so that was different than he had been instructed. The evaluator told him that since he had "stripes" on the lines, he should let them make the line/touch call and he should keep his focus on the net.

He called me to make sure that there wasn't some change in technique that he wasn't aware of. I told him that the evaluator was WAY out in left field and that there was no change in technique. After I got off the phone, I just shook my head .