Tips for running your diagonal

[Conor Murphy]

I was given some feedback about my diagonal- I did think it was fine until Saturday

any hints or tips in running and keeping your diagonal solid

 

[ASM]

It depends on what the advice you have been given is.

To my mind, you don't want a 'solid' diagonal as it sounds like something you rigidly stick to. You need to have a flexible patrol path that allows you to prioritise getting a good angle on decisions you need to make. Go somewhere because there is a purpose and reason to being there.

Sometimes you may need to move left of play to generate that angle, sometime speed of play means you cannot get there in time so rather than start going left and be stranded with no view go right instead to generate the angle to view the challenge.

 

[Conor Murphy]

thank you for the advice, guess I just need to adopt to each situation and how it unfolds

 

[AlexF]

Recommendation I've heard previously is that you widen your diagonal (into something of a parabolic arc) away from the AR you're looking at when you move in that direction.

This isn't the greatest image here:

But instead of sticking to that rigid line, when you're dealing with the AR on the top, you stretch your run to be closer to the outside of that oval at the bottom, and vice versa.

 

[GraemeS]

Yeah, I've been given what seems like slightly contradicting advice in a few recent assessments. The standard criticism that I've had since level 9 is that I stay too central - which I took to mean that I should avoid running straight up and down the pitch, essentially going from D to D.

However the last assessment I had (where I was consciously trying to be more diagonal) criticised me for not getting close enough to the ball whenever the action is going on underneath my CAR's nose. While I definitely understand his point (you want to be close to the action to "sell" the decisions, as well as giving you more chance of making the right one), I'm struggling to work out how to reconcile this with the diagonal I'm supposed to patrol, as well as how to avoid just following the ball around the pitch.

I'm happy to ball-track and I'm happy to run the diagonal - is it the case that the former is better with CAR's and the latter with NAR's? In which case, surely I should just be getting in good habits now for if/when I do eventually get NAR's regularly?

 

[ASM]

This is the advice sent to all Level 3 referees earlier in the season. Obviously it's designed where you have NAR on every game but the general premise is a good one to work from.

 

[Martiju]

That's really useful ASM, thanks - apart from anything it shows how when I have NARs I go too wide into areas 5 and 6 and risk missing critical decisions in the penalty area due to trying to keep a better diagonal!

 

[Padfoot]

Be where you need to be to see what you need to see.

 

[Kes]

This is the advice sent to all Level 3 referees earlier in the season. Obviously it's designed where you have NAR on every game but the general premise is a good one to work from.

Thanks for that @ASM. Useful piece of guidance.

That almost contradicts the advice that I've been given as a Level 6 - 5 promotion candidate this season, where I was advised to try and hit the corners more and generally get wider in my patrol path.

Having said that, at my level of course, I'm unlikely to have properly qualified assistants in place except on the the odd occasion unlike a Level 3 (which you've already alluded to).

 

[xPositor]

Be where you need to be to see what you need to see.

Genuinely, I thought this was such a good turn of phrase that it must have been quoted from somewhere. A wise sage; a lyric from a song; perhaps even Yoda.... According to Google, DuckDuckGo and Bing: nope. No results found for that phrase. I will, when quoting it myself in the future, cite @Padfoot as the source.

Unless anybody points out something really obvious that I have missed on my searching...

 

[GraemeS]

Genuinely, I thought this was such a good turn of phrase that it must have been quoted from somewhere. A wise sage; a lyric from a song; perhaps even Yoda.... According to Google, DuckDuckGo and Bing: nope. No results found for that phrase. I will, when quoting it myself in the future, cite @Padfoot as the source.

Unless anybody points out something really obvious that I have missed on my searching...

It does sound good...but I'm not sure how it practically helps a young/inexperienced referee plan his movement...

 

[Padfoot]

It does sound good...but I'm not sure how it practically helps a young/inexperienced referee plan his movement...

Think about what you need to see as a referee, then think about where you need to be to see it.....then move accordingly.

Don't have a rigid idea of what your patrol path should be in your head before you start a game......for the first few promotions you will be assessed with CAR's so you cannot rely on them picking up what a neutral assistant would.
So your patrol path will become more fluid, and will take you into areas you wouldn't necessarily need to go with NAR's.

 

[santa sangria]

With NAR's it also depends on how you communicate, what kind of eye contact you make, if any. A few metres closer here and there can make all the difference to acting as a unit.

Like the PDF. You need to be ready: to get to the 5/6 corners or to track one-on-ones in break aways. Choosing those moments to sprint up with play at the extremes is so important.

 

[zarathustra]

I attended our county 7-6 development session at the weekend, and one of the things we looked at was positioning.

I asked whether we'do get marked down for not sticking to the diagonal, I was told that we wouldn't.

However I'll wait to see what is mentioned following my first assessment