A&H

My game today - takeaway points

Wolf_Ref

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Level 3W Referee
Putting aside the weather challenges (33 degrees at one point here!!), had a ‘friendly’ today. Was a good practice to be honest as both sides are vocal and competitive (aka annoying!) but pleased to get a bit of practice with this before the season for real!

Couple of things…

Incident 1: I dropped a clanger - away defender clears ball and I think massive deflection and give goal kick - evidently it appears that it was just the worst clearance in history. Hate it when I get these wrong and I needed to take more time to wait for the club assistant to flag - could have been avoided.

Incident 2: Penalty appeal for away team - shoulder to shoulder in box on goal like. Player goes down, but goes down theatrically and no foul seen. No real issues here, however whilst thinking I put whistle to mouth. Anyone else here get annoyed when they do that!!?? To the away team skippers credit, when I explained the decision and said that me putting my whistle to my mouth may have been confusing, he got it.


Incident 3: 88th minute. Pointless foul from away skipper. Give a YC as it was just reckless and unnecessary - especially due to them losing 2-0 and the ground being so hard. No complaints.

Big takeaways for me are:

Take time at decisions before indicating - and keep whistle down until 100% sure!

Good to have a runout and get some match prep in! Looking forward to the season now. One more friendly tomorrow, then holiday for a week, then new season!
 
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Sounds like you’ve come to the right conclusions! If I’m not sure at a goal kick / corner, I often take a few seconds to have a look at what the majority of players are doing. If they’re all moving into the box but I think I’ve seen a goal kick, I’ve got to be pretty damn sure.

The whistle one as well can be so hard to master as it’s sometimes just your instinct to bring it to your mouth. I have to fight with my hand sometimes not to get raised!
 
I actually got accused of that this weekend when I was genuinely gesturing to my chest! Was a handball shout where the player had leant into it - from my view it him him in the chest, so I tapped my chest with the hand my whistle is in and apparently it looed like I was going to blow!
 
Newish ref here. I put my whistle to mouth several times in anticipation of the need to blow, but the foul didn't occur in the end, so I didn't follow through. So what I thought. But I've had players show dissent on the basis of this - surely my 'process' has got nothing to do with them - and I told them that robustly.
 
Newish ref here. I put my whistle to mouth several times in anticipation of the need to blow, but the foul didn't occur in the end, so I didn't follow through. So what I thought. But I've had players show dissent on the basis of this - surely my 'process' has got nothing to do with them - and I told them that robustly.
You're not going to ever get past a point where players stop associating a whistle to the mouth with the idea that you've seen a foul and chosen not to blow. So your choice is simple - be prepared to explain your 'process' over and over in every match you ever do, accepting that it invites dissent to an extent, or try to train yourself out of the habit.
 
I find the finger grip really useful because I can leave the whistle in the mouth more naturally than with a lanyard. Last time I whistled to lips, I left it in and sold it;)
 
Newish ref here. I put my whistle to mouth several times in anticipation of the need to blow, but the foul didn't occur in the end, so I didn't follow through. So what I thought. But I've had players show dissent on the basis of this - surely my 'process' has got nothing to do with them - and I told them that robustly.
You have to stop this habit..... Ok, at the higher levels, it doesn't come into a players thinking, but at grassroots level they will always think "you have bottled it". Again, another one of those actions can create a bad appearance by the official.
 
Thanks for replies. I've started in mens open age loweer divisions, which seems to me to be closely related to MMA. So I had been trying to get ready with a quick whistle to stop things escalating. But I accept your points, duly noted.
 
Yes, there are times when you think a quick whistle will help - but it is better for a strong whistle, when you know what the correct decision is. A quick whistle gives you no thinking time, and without thinking, you are more likely to make the wrong choice.
 
You have to stop this habit..... Ok, at the higher levels, it doesn't come into a players thinking, but at grassroots level they will always think "you have bottled it". Again, another one of those actions can create a bad appearance by the official.
I do feel good that I saw some ‘pro’ refs doing it in tele (yey - they are human!), but it really annoys me when I do it. It’s rare, but whilst it feels like a lifetime when there is a shout for a pen/foul, my big pre-season action point is that I have more time than I think. And it’s sellable by saying (if you make a late call) that you were waiting to see if there was an advantage etc.
 
I do feel good that I saw some ‘pro’ refs doing it in tele (yey - they are human!), but it really annoys me when I do it. It’s rare, but whilst it feels like a lifetime when there is a shout for a pen/foul, my big pre-season action point is that I have more time than I think. And it’s sellable by saying (if you make a late call) that you were waiting to see if there was an advantage etc.
They usually do that as a wait and see for an advantage as opposed to indecision
 
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