Question Number: 18620

Mechanics 3/26/2008

RE: Any Level Adult

Willie of Memphis, TN, 38765 U.S.A. asks...

Question concerning mechanics...

As I watch various referees I notice that many run what is called a "left" diagonal. The better referees change up their loops and attempt to anticipate play. Here is where I am getting different answers.

One national assessor informed me that a good referee will sometimes loop all the way to the touchline in his or her quadrant and even stand out of play during throw-ins. The assessor told me "The wider the better"

Therefore I started looping, wide and to the touchline. Then another national assessor informs me that at higher levels of play you just can not loop that deep because you will get beat by counter attacks.

Why the different answers? Should a center referee make runs all the way to the touchline during the game?

I try to understand what is expected of me but the assessors keep giving me different answers!!!

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Different answers because of different assessors. If I had a dime for every time I've been told one thing by an assessor and an opposite thing by another one I would have at least enough for a large cup of coffee at Tim Horton's (local donut chain.)

Welcome to the world of assessment. What you have to do is take the criticism that they give and put it through your personal "sifter". Take a tid bit or two that you think wil help, and disregard things that you find unhelpful. Then you will learn, slowly but surely.

By the way, the answer is: as a referee you should be in the best position to see play, while anticipating where play will go, and ensuring that you do not take such an extreme position that you could not reasonably recover on a counter attack. You need to know your own fitness and speed levels compared to the level of play and make judgments on your position based on these facts and not some 'hard and fast rule' that some assessor told you to follow. You know yourself best, not the assessor.

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

Wise words, Ref Montanino....I was once told by one National assessor that I didn't run enough. So, next game (we were in a regional tournament at the time), I ran my @%$ off. That national assessor told me I ran too much! JEEEZ! As far as "the wider, the better," that really depends on the game. If they are constantly driving the ball down the middle then maybe wide is good. It keeps you out of the way. But, if they are sending a winger down the side, you don't want to be playing "relay soccer" by being there where the player wants to be. Perhaps keeping more central is a better choice for that game. The whole point is you have to know how they play. Most of the time, we don't get the benefit of being on the MLS conference calls and discussing the different teams and players' tactics. So we have to do what I would call "sight refereeing." This comes from the musical term of "sight reading/singing" which means that the musician doesn't get to practise or even see the music until it's plunked onto their music stands and they are then expected to play it -- well! The better the musician, the more successful their site reading goes. The same goes for "site refereeing." We get assigned a match and are lucky if we can get to a website that has the rankings, let alone league scoring leaders, and other valuable information. So, we show up at the field with a "new sheet of music" on our music stands (as it were.) We attune ourselves to this match when we pick up on who the "go to" people are, or what kind of soccer each team plays. Once we have that information, we can then figure out what we need to do to be at the place which will have the greatest likelihood for success. The more experience you get, the more self-evaluation and discussion you have with a trusted mentor, the more successful you will be at "sight reffing" -- which will ultimately make you a better referee. My mentor and others along the way always told me to go to the place that will have the greatest percent success. Widen your vision and look around to where you think the ball is going to be going....then go there. If for that match that means you have to be touchline to touchline and to hell and back, then that's where it is. I can tell you though that if you keep your head up and looking around (not just at where the ball IS, but where it most likely will go) you will find that you actually don't feel as tired at the end of your game because you find you are usually where you most needed to be without the extra effort of a sprint to catch up. You just chugged along and were always moving. When you need to be at a "hot spot" you have plenty of gas in your tank to get your butt there -- fast.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

I see what both assessors are saying here. In a top level game, the referee will not be able to get as wide at times simply because play happens so fast and the counter attacks occur so frequently, that it is just simply not possible. How many times do you see a national referee stand off the field of play for a throw in? It just is not possible for the most part. The referee should not restrain himself to the strict diagonal and at times, the referee may need to shift away from the main diagonal a bit.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

As you progress through the ranks Willie you'll find varied thoughts on how things should be done. You should feel obligated to, at least, try doing what is suggested before discounting the suggestion. The reason is simply courtesy to the assessor. Next time you see him you can broach the subject and describe why what he said didn't work.

This is a super way to find out if he didn't get his teaching point across or you simply used the technique suggested in the wrong scenario. Doing it this way allows both parties to learn better ways of speaking and listening. It is a win-win thing as well.

When assessing a referee I try to find out his thoughts during some phase of the match, I'll try to direct his thinking to a place where he can be asked "What does the Law say about that?" or "Can you come up with a better solution now?" When a referee realises he might be better served by another way of doing things or might have missed a point of Law during the match he remembers much easier than the simple "go wide here because I say so".

You'll find if you get your head on a swivel and soak up all the sights on the field your situational awareness will improve and you'll start getting to the right place without thinking all that much. Deb alludes to that in her answer. When I first watched her on a match she did a lot of watching play at the ball and seldom looked around to take in the tactical situation. Now she finds where the ball should go to make a team successful and goes there. Presto, more often than not she arrives someplace where she is needed when she is needed and that is good. We did it by filming one amateur match and dissecting it frame by frame. It was not a pleasant three hours... However it was an unqualified success.

Regards,