Customer Reviews

Officiating Basketball (Officiating Sport Books)

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4 star:		(1)
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Just so you know Ive Officiated 6 lower grade school games before buying this book, so you know my experience level going in. It's written well for someone who understands basketball pretty well already. It addresses the mindset for a Ref, the things you should strive to obtain in your abilities to be a great ref, which are not just knowing the rules. It spends a fair amount of time going over the social aspect of dealing with players, coaches and fans.
The game procedures and responsibilities give you some minimal insights into the inner workings of a ref such as what to do in between halfs, substitutions, confrontations, and checklists you should go through to ensure you do an adequate job. Not all will be necessary as a beginning referee. You will need to study rule books in addition to this book. There would be enough here to get you started but not to progress.
The best section in my opinion was the Basketball Officiating Mechanics section because it hits most of the stuff you need to know to even step out on the court. There are pictures with hand signals for the calls of the most common fouls, it doesn't go into depth of explanation about these fouls, but there are videos posted on you tube to help out in that area. It goes over how to do throw in, free throws, report fouls, jump balls, time outs, etc. Good stuff.
The final section is how to apply rules and its helpful for some odd things that come up but its not exhaustive. This section has scenario based questions that you try to answer which is the correct thing to be done. Answers included.
The ending pages have figures displaying the hand signals for 36 different calls you'll most likely make in a game. There is also a glossary of 28 terms that could help if you are not real familiar with the game. I think it was a good investment but I will continue to look for more indepth stuff.

A must for all basketball referees and officials who assist with timing and score keeping. However the NFHS and many state high school associations have this book readily available at around $8 (eight bucks) new and current as well. Don't be ripped off.

This book covers all the basic principles of officiating. Great for someone just getting started.