{"id":1166,"date":"2022-05-05T15:00:43","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T19:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/articles\/ball-watching-afflicts-veterans-and-newer-officials-alike-3\/"},"modified":"2022-05-05T15:00:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T19:00:43","slug":"ball-watching-afflicts-veterans-and-newer-officials-alike-3","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/articles\/ball-watching-afflicts-veterans-and-newer-officials-alike-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Ball-Watching Afflicts Veterans and Newer Officials Alike"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>wo huge mistakes that officials\u00a0can make are ball-watching\u00a0and officiating air. The former\u00a0means watching the runner to the\u00a0exclusion of what\u2019s happening\u00a0around him. The latter means\u00a0focusing on areas where nothing is\u00a0going on instead of shifting our eyes\u00a0to where something is happening.\u00a0Both prevent us from seeing things\u00a0we need to see. That problem,\u00a0moreover, afflicts veterans and\u00a0newer officials.<\/p>\n

At times, to be sure, we must\u00a0watch the runner and especially the\u00a0ball. The wing officials<\/a> and umpire<\/a> must know if there\u2019s an illegal snap, player in the neutral zone or false start. We must know if a runner\u2019s body part (other than hand or foot) is down before the ball comes loose, he\u2019s hit late or his facemask is yanked. Ball-watching is needed on close line-to-gain and goalline plays, including when an exuberant runner, thinking he has scored, drops the ball just before crossing the line. And so on.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a no-no is when an official \u2014 worse, several \u2014 watches a runner when he\u2019s in the wide open with no one near him. Take punt returns. We must look for a fair-catch signal and whether the ball is possessed cleanly. But when the returner starts upfield it can be easy to stay with him and miss takedowns, blocks in the back, and low and blindside blocks just a few feet away.<\/p>\n

That can also happen when an\u00a0H-back runs a sweep around end.\u00a0Sometimes a wing official may be\u00a0so focused on the back coming\u00a0at him that he misses fouls in the\u00a0immediate vicinity. We must learn\u00a0to shift our focus from him to the\u00a0action around him, while sensing\u00a0where he is and who\u2019s near him,\u00a0shifting back only when he\u2019s about\u00a0to be tackled. Too often we become\u00a0spectators mesmerized by his ability\u00a0to dart here and there instead of\u00a0officials who see the larger picture.<\/p>\n

Another example is when a\u00a0quarterback drops back to pass\u00a0and the referee\u2019s eyes stay on him,\u00a0although he is not yet pressured\u00a0by the defense. That accomplishes\u00a0nothing and is a sure-fire way to\u00a0allow fouls such as holding, illegal\u00a0hands to the face and chop blocks\u00a0to go undetected because no other\u00a0official is in a position to pick\u00a0them up. What the referee should\u00a0do is watch the action around the\u00a0quarterback while sensing where\u00a0he is, what he\u2019s doing and when he\u00a0begins to be pressured so his eyes\u00a0can transition back to him only\u00a0when necessary to protect him.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, unfortunately, that\u00a0transition does not occur quickly\u00a0enough. Early in my time as a\u00a0college referee my eyes went to my\u00a0initial key, the right tackle, after the\u00a0snap and stayed there so long that\u00a0I missed a hit to the quarterback\u2019s\u00a0head that put him in la-la land. I\u00a0failed to sense where he was so my\u00a0focus could shift to him when he\u00a0was threatened. After that I vowed\u00a0that if it\u2019s a toss-up between staying\u00a0with a tackle who looks like he\u00a0might hold because, for example,\u00a0he\u2019s getting beat and going to the\u00a0quarterback when he\u2019s threatened,\u00a0I would do the latter. Safety comes\u00a0first, so it\u2019s better to miss a hold\u00a0than a foul on the passer.<\/p>\n

When we \u201cofficiate air\u201d we\u2019re\u00a0not ball-watching, but our eyes are\u00a0not in a helpful place. Returning\u00a0to the H-back end-sweep, if any of\u00a0the covering officials simply watch\u00a0the area (or air) in front of the back\u00a0they\u2019re not doing anything useful.\u00a0What they must do is recognize\u00a0(quickly), based on the defenders\u2019\u00a0movement and the blockers\u2019 bodies,\u00a0hands and arms, where the first\u00a0threat of a foul is and focus on it.\u00a0If nothing happens there, go to the\u00a0next threat and so on.<\/p>\n

Assume that as a referee<\/a> I\u00a0process that the quarterback\u00a0cleanly takes the snap, so my eyes\u00a0shift to the tackle. But I continue\u00a0to stay on him although the play\u00a0goes the other way, he goes to the\u00a0second level, or he and a defender\u00a0\u201cdance\u201d with neither trying to do\u00a0anything. That is a step removed\u00a0from officiating air because I am\u00a0watching something, but it\u2019s equally\u00a0unproductive. When any of those\u00a0things happens, my focus should\u00a0shift to where the next threat may\u00a0be, which might involve a back, the\u00a0right guard or center, or possibly\u00a0players on the center\u2019s other\u00a0side, depending on how the play\u00a0develops.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is that just as\u00a0officials don\u2019t help the crew if they\u00a0watch the runner when he\u2019s in the\u00a0wide open, they\u2019re derelict if their\u00a0eyes stay where action is neither\u00a0happening nor likely to happen.\u00a0Even in smaller crews each official\u00a0has keys to watch pre-snap, at the\u00a0snap and post-snap, but sometimes\u00a0we forget that they are our initial\u00a0keys and we can\u2019t lock in on them\u00a0forever. We must learn how to\u00a0quickly shift our focus to some place\u00a0useful, all the while sensing where\u00a0the runner is so we can get back to\u00a0him when necessary. If we watch\u00a0him when no one\u2019s around, focus on\u00a0areas occupied only by air, or linger\u00a0too long on our key or other players\u00a0who aren\u2019t presenting a threat of a\u00a0foul, we may miss something that\u00a0even a blind person could see.<\/p>\n

I believe in visualization in\u00a0officiating. I study rules<\/a> by seeing\u00a0plays in my mind\u2019s eye and\u00a0applying the relevant rules. Same\u00a0here. No matter what position you\u00a0work, imagine plays developing in\u00a0all kinds of ways. Where are you\u00a0focused? Where should you focus?\u00a0If you practice keeping your eyes\u00a0off the runner until there\u2019s a reason\u00a0to put them there and transitioning\u00a0from where no action is taking\u00a0place to where something important\u00a0might happen, you\u2019ll become more\u00a0adept at doing that in games. If\u00a0everyone on the crew does that,\u00a0they will likely turn in one heckuva\u00a0performance.<\/p>\n

The post Ball-Watching Afflicts Veterans and Newer Officials Alike<\/a> appeared first on Referee.com<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two huge mistakes that officials\u00a0can make are ball-watching\u00a0and officiating air. The former\u00a0means watching the runner to the\u00a0exclusion of what\u2019s happening\u00a0around him. The latter means\u00a0focusing on areas where nothing is\u00a0going on instead of shifting our eyes\u00a0to where something is happening.\u00a0Both prevent us from seeing things\u00a0we need to see. That problem,\u00a0moreover, afflicts veterans and\u00a0newer officials. At times, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1166","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/1166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/1166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aafoa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}