1. introduction - Club del Árbitro

OFFICIATING MECHANICS
1. INTRODUCTION
IN THIS CHAPTER:
We explain the Basic notions of
o f f i c i a t i n g m ec h a n i c s a n d i t s
need in modern basketball.
O F F I C I A T I N G
1.1. Wmheacthaisntichse?officiating
The officiating mechanics is a practical working method
designed to facilitate the task of the officials on the playing court. It is intended to help them work as a team in a
reduced space, avoiding the errors made because of a
poor vision of the actions, by means of obtaining the best
possible position and enabling decisions concerning
infractions of the rules to be taken in the fairest way, informing all the participants the result of decisions clearly.
Common sense is a value for all human beings, even more
for those who must judge any action. Officiating consists
on judging the play situations according to the Rules and
criteria coming from the basketball governing bodies.
A clear and thorough understanding of not only the
Basketball Rules and the Official Interpretations, but also
the spirit of the game and its options, is absolutely essential. This will allow us to have the mental reflexes in accordance with modern basketball. By penalizing every technical infraction that occurs, without appreciating its effect
on the game, the official will only succeed in producing
dissatisfied spectators, players and coaches in addition to
creating a poor spectacle.
M E C H A N I C S
“Officiating mechanics is the set of
practical rules born from experience
and the constant technical evolution of the game that the officials
are recommended to follow to facilitate their task and increase their
quality”.
José Vallejo
1.2.Historical sequence
The first 13 rules elaborated by Naismith, creator of the
basketball game, were very basic and were based on a
game without contacts, which, in some way, facilitated the
tasks of the new officials.
Original basketball only needed one official to apply those
few rules, an official who didn’t need to move to carry out
his mission.
Nowadays, the most important competitions in the world,
NBA, FIBA Euroleague or ACB are controlled by three officials because of the great complexity and speed of
modern basketball. The question we have to answer is:
how has our game developed so much, above all when
compared with the great majority of sports? In principle it
can be declared that modern basketball has nothing to
see with the game created by Naismith: the original 13
articles have become 8 rules divided into 50 articles and a
whole legislative body attached, such as officiating
mechanics, scoresheet recording, equipment and so on.
Until the middle 1950s, the game doesn’t undergo a substantial evolution. It is in those times when tactics begin to
be created and developed, at the same time that the speed
of the players’ actions increases. This fact implies the
need to introduce a second official to work hand in hand
with the first in managing the game.
This novelty is not regulated by any written law: in those
times, off-the-ball play was nearly non-existent and both
officials focus on the play with the ball almost exclusively.
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O F F I C I A T I N G
They were standing at each extreme of the centre line,
where they didn’t disturb the players and little did they
leave these positions, just to go to the other court when
the other team began its attack.
Officials also began to exchange positions after personal
fouls were called or in jump balls, so both teams didn’t
feel lost out for being sanctioned by the same official at all
times, something that would happen if they didn’t exchange positions.
M E C H A N I C S
incidental have become really hard, and the actions that
the officials can and must allow in favour of the spectacle,
according to the rules, have increased as well. The number of situations to analyze is bigger and bigger, and a static position of the officials is clearly not enough. A quick
glance at the attached diagram will show the difference
among some team sports. As a consequence of this correlation between square metres and number of players, we
can deduce the individual inter-relation space, realizing
the great number of contact situations that occur in basketball. This is why the distribution of responsibility areas
between the officials is so important to watch the actions
clearly.
We could reduce this proportionate space if we take into
account that the game is played in one of the courts
almost exclusively (frontcourt) and that there is a restricted area.
This high density of players implies a higher possibility for
contacts to happen between the imaginary cylinders each
player owns and, as a consequence, it is essential to see
these situations close up to define who is responsible for
the contact and sanction it of appropriate.
Thus, with this level of play in the middle 1980s, FIBA was
in need of considering the publication of a 2-person officiating manual. On the one hand, it should be an assistance for the improvement of our task and, on the other, it
would prevent the officials from interfering each other.
This was the time when the court was divided into 6 rectangles, which are useful to determine each official’s area
of responsibility, according to the position of the ball,
regulating the officials’ positions and signalling as well.
1.3. Tohffieciraetainsognmfoerchananics
Nowadays, the speed of the game is much quicker than at
those times. The game has developed very fast in the last
years. Coaches have designed new tactics, players’ endurance has been increased, the contacts that were once
SPORT
DIMENSIONS
AREA
PLAYERS
DENSITY
Basketball
28 x 15 metres
420 m²
10 players
42 m² / player
Football
100 x 70 metres
7.000 m²
22 players
318 m² / player
Handball
Rugby
40 x 20 metres
120 x 70 metres
800 m²
8.400 m²
14 players
30 players
Table 1: Players density by sport
57 m² / player
280 m² / player
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O F F I C I A T I N G
M E C H A N I C S
OFFICIATING MECHANICS BASICS
- Positioning
- Signalling
- Cooperation
This system finally allows that one official control the play
near the ball and the other concentrates on off-the-ball
play, that is, both officials give up focusing on the two players who fight for the ball and share their job to control the
ten players.
In the middle 1990s, due to the great number of actions
that went unnoticed, due to bad positioning because of
the players’ height and speed, 3-person officiating began
to appear timidly to end up being the best investment in
the future in worldwide officiating.
After introducing the third official in some FIBA competitions, in ACB or Euroleague, the 3-person Officiating
Manual was published in 2001, applying the same principles as the NCCA.
Officiating mechanics is made up of three basic principles
that will be analyzed and explained deeply in the next
chapters. These principles are parts of a whole which
expresses the diverse needs of the officials when performing their task.
Conclusions
• Officiating mechanics is a system, born from
the experience over many years, to unify and
regulate the officials’ task on the court with
the intention of getting the best possible position in order to take the best possible decision.
• To officiate in a correct way you have to know
not only the Rules and Interpretations but also
their spirit and purpose, the officiating mechanics, as well as all the regulations of the competition. A good knowledge of the game will be
the connecting thread to weave a net which
will provide this knowledge with more sense.
• Basketball evolves. The tactics and the players progress as well. Officials must not be an
exception.
• Modern officiating (2 or 3 persons) doesn’t
mean interfering. It is a team work in which
each official has a specific task depending on
the game..
• Officiating mechanics must be followed by
all officials in a standard way, no matter their
nationality. This is the only way to have a really
standardized team work. All the officials are
required to know and follow these principles.
Despite of this, you need common sense and
remember that the ultimate aim is to take the
right decision. Officiating mechanics is not a
dogma of faith: ‘go where you need to go in
order to see what you need to see’.
• Learn from the more experienced officials
and be an example at the same time.
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O F F I C I A T I N G
M E C H A N I C S
A reflexion by…
Víctor Mas Rafols
FIBA Instructor
Member of FIBA EUROPE
Technical Commission
“A correct application of officiating techniques, according to the demands of the
game, together with a correct application
of the Rules, helps officials to analyze the
diverse situations that happen in a game
in a correct way”.
SELF-EVALUATION
Answer True or False to the following statements::
1. Before the beginning of the game, the officials must
talk about the Game Rules, the Interpretations and the
Officiating Mechanics among other aspects.
2. Naismith created basketball with 11 rules.
Nowadays, basketball has developed reaching 50 articles.
3. The two officials must control the game near the
ball since it’s the ball what decides if a basket is valid.
4. Officials must know the position of the ball as in
modern mechanics it is the ball that determines their
positioning.
5. . In 2-person mechanics, the court is divided into
three areas: primary, secondary and third.
6. Officiating technique is formed by: signalling, positioning and deciding.
ANSWERS: 1. True; 2. False 3. False;
4. Ture; 5. False; 6. False
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