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One of the best pieces of advice to an offical to keep them out of trouble
on the court is "Know thy rule book!". Unfortunately, that takes many hours
of study. One must not only study the Rule book, but also the Case book
that puts the rules together to guide you on how to judicate the situations
that you will see on the court.
Unfortunately, these books are (generally) not availalbe from any local
stores. You can order them from NFHS but that takes time (weeks!).
But there is no excuse for not knowing the specific
rules of our league. You can also learn plenty
from reading the rule changes for each year
and the section on the most misunderstood rules
in basketball.
There are also many things to learn about Mechanics. This refers to where
you stand, where you watch (and there are specific assigned areas of the
court - you do not simply watch the action), what location you each go
to in different situations, etc.
We use "2-man mechanics" meaning we have only 2 officials on the court.
The two positions are called:
| Lead |
Official ahead of the play or positioned on the end line.
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| Trail |
Official just behind the players moving up court, or located above the
free throw line extended (usually).
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If you picture a rectangle drawn around all 10 players, the two officials
would generally be located at opposite corners of the rectangle.
One more definition: "Transition" is the time when the play is moving from one end of the court to the other.
With these definitions understood we are ready for specific information on
what to do and how to do it as listed below.
- Beginning the game: Jump Ball!
(also over time periods) and each quarter
- Positioning of the Lead in transition and normal play
- Positioning of the Trail in transition and
normal play
- Inbounding the ball
- Free throws
- Violations (walk, out of bounds, double dribble,
back court, 3 seconds in the key, elbows, 5 second closely guarded)
- Fouls (hold, push, block, hand check, player/team controlled)
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