Why do we make bad calls?

By: Alfie Paoletti  

It has occurred to me of late, that despite the years of experience and hard work that some put into officiating basketball, mistakes are still made. In my illusive pursuit of the perfect game, I would like to share some thoughts on the matter. Given the constellation of factors lining up to provide us with the information required to render judgments that should come easily, why do I keep making mistakes? The only two factors one needs to render a correct judgments are to see the play, and to know the rule, bingo, there you are, simple after all, or is it really?

I marvel at the ease with which people make correct judgments from the comfort of the stands or their living rooms for that matter. Why so easy?  A charge is a charge, a travel is an easy call, and how easy is it to differ between a three pointer and a two pointer? There’s a line, if you step on it, it’s two, period end of story. Not.

Let’s look at a hand check on the point guard, easy call. The rule states that any player making contact with the dribbler is considered to have committed a foul.  In order to see the play you need to be in position. We all know that the ideal position is no further than 15ft away and in a spot that gives us a clear look at the space between the dribbler and defender. The rule book also has a section on advantage/disadvantage. (oiy) Now it’s getting complicated. Was he moving north south or east west? Is the next foul, the defenders fifth foul, and is the defender, his team’s most valuable player? Are these the national championships and is the game televised?  Am I in the first quarter or the last quarter, what’s the score, did I give this kid’s team a technical foul on the previous play? Who’s coaching the team, how did my partner call that in the previous quarter? Am I being supervised by Gilles, Paul, Harry or Tony? I am sure others can come up with other factors to help make the decision.  How much time do I have to make this decision? I would say about .30 seconds.  Too late, the kid has made a steal and already made his layup at the other end.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book “Blink” speaks of the process of thin-slicing. This is a process by which experts have the ability to reduce the number of factors contributing to a decision, to its minimum, and to rifle through the information at a high rate of speed. Sounds like what officials do. We need to know what the factors are and more importantly internalize them to our sub-conscious. One develops this experience through years of observation, which we all refer to as experience. It is through years of playing, coaching and most importantly, officiating that expertise is attained.  This takes time, much time; according to Gladwell 10,000hrs.Becoming an expert is about internalizing the maximum amount of information to the point where the info enters our sub-conscious. It is from the sub-conscious that we retrieve the correct decision. This is analogous to the martial artist spending thousands of hours repeating the same counter attack to the point that it disappears from his conscious mind and settles into the sub-conscious mind of correct reaction.

It is also widely discussed that stress can be a major distraction to a person’s ability to thin-slice. Fear, anger, and daydreaming will always be major impediments to focus and concentration. Scientists have experimented with scenarios where police officers are put in a situation of coming around a corner and required to make split second decisions, and add the stress of firing plastic bullets at them. During their first attempt, the police officers fail miserably. They found that after four to five repeated sequences, they were able to pass their test despite the stress-inducing pain from the plastic bullets. Experience and preparation, desensitises the individual, and allows them to make calm, correct decisions despite the apparent stress.

Fatigue also contributes to decreased decision-making power. Sun-Tzu in the “Art of War’ suggests that the solider is powerful at the break of dawn, less so as the day progresses and empty at the end of the day. So if we are to attack emptiness with fullness then we will do so in the evening. The solider will make mistakes when fatigued. As officials we need to be fit. This not only will permit us to be in position, but also contributes to a fresh mind. We must pay extra attention to our concentration during the last quarter of play.

Our psychological state of mind is very important to the efficiency of our decision-making. A certain amount of confidence is required to interrupt a game and announce to all concerned that a violation has occurred. If we’ve made a mistake, we may subsequently be less confident, or more fearful of not penalizing the team that we’ve just unfairly penalized. At this point we may be officiating from a position of insecurity. The skill one needs under this circumstance is resilience, the ability to pick yourself up after a setback and immediately do the next right thing. We mustn’t ref in the past but continually self-coach ourselves into the best possible psychological state of mind in order to be the best of ourselves now. Partners also play an important role in encouraging one another to be the best crew.  Remain positive with your communications with your partners.

There are many other factors that will influence the official and his state of mind. Exploring these factors can only help in our pursuit of the perfect game. Below I have listed only a few of the factors that we need to be aware of in our ever illusive quest.

SEE THE PLAY:            Be ready and eager to move quickly

                                                Look for the space between the offense and defence

                                                Anticipate the ball and player movement

                                                Be fit

                                                Move in from trail on rebounds

                                                When the point guard moves down the sideline, curl in

                                                Help your partner on a fast break, see it from both sides

                                                Get deeper on baseline for a better angle

DISTRACTION:       Rehearse the impending live ball

                                                What are the possible upcoming infractions?     

                                                Anticipate the play not the call

                                                Focus immediately on the next moment

                                                Do not dwell on the past mistake

                                                Be familiar with your state of arousal, do you choke or overcall

                                                Eliminate surprises

                                                Stay calm. Imagine yourself floating above the game, see everything

                                                Let go, trust yourself

                                                Respond to personal attacks with diffusive responses

                                                Be ready, BE READY

                                                Concentrate all the time, from toss to final whistle

                                                Be Zen, one mind

ENJOY THE BEER AFTER THE GAME