A&H

Bad habit - I need some help!

P

PinnerPaul

RefChat Addict
This has happened a few times to me as AR. If ball gets close to goal line, I find myself instinctivly stopping to see if ball is going over the line or not. Happened yesterday, GK grabs the ball close to goaline, I'm convinced its over the line (far side from me) and ref awards a corner based on my flag. I'm happy with my decision, but players turn and see me 5/10 yards from corner flag and are therefore keen to give me their opinion on my decision!

Just seems counter intuitive to try and judge something whilst sprinting, hence why I stop - its annoying me - I do the majority of my games as AR - so keen for tips to stop me............. erm, stopping!

Thanks
 
The Referee Store
I don't remember you doing this while on the line for me! :p I'd say just crab down the touchline while showing the signal for a corner. That way by the time the players have had a look, they'll at least see you in a credible position!
 
First bit of advice is to practice making decisions on the run, so maybe try this on youth or lower division games where you (possibly) have a little more time and leeway to put development areas and new techniques in to practice, you could even go as far as offering to act as CAR on a game if you're worried about not getting things 100% correct whilst practising and negatively affecting the game (As even a practising NAR will be better than most 100% disinterested CAR!!).

If you still find yourself doing this when on the line in "bigger games" whilst getting used to doing this correctly, remember you have plenty of time, so if you do slow down and stop before reaching the goal line to help with "how you make a decision", you don't have to signal from that point; make the decision, then make quick eye contact with the ref, if your flag is in your left hand (assuming left backs / right wings), they'll be expecting a GK decision, if in your right hand a CK. You you can then sprint to the goal line and signal at that point.

Not ideal, and will almost certainly cost you Observer Marks, but I would suggest that most players will be a little slower looking at you than the Ref so this will buy you a few moments sprint time.
 
HarryD said:
I don't remember you doing this while on the line for me! :p I'd say just crab down the touchline while showing the signal for a corner. That way by the time the players have had a look, they'll at least see you in a credible position!
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Either

a) I was on my best behaviour or much more likely

b) We didn't have one of these calls in our game:)

Seriously, yes good advice, I just seem to find myself frozen to the spot - of course I DO make my way down to the corner, ready for the ck - just not quick enough - obviously!
 
MattyAB said:
First bit of advice is to practice making decisions on the run, so maybe try this on youth or lower division games where you (possibly) have a little more time and leeway to put development areas and new techniques in to practice, you could even go as far as offering to act as CAR on a game if you're worried about not getting things 100% correct whilst practising and negatively affecting the game (As even a practising NAR will be better than most 100% disinterested CAR!!).

If you still find yourself doing this when on the line in "bigger games" whilst getting used to doing this correctly, remember you have plenty of time, so if you do slow down and stop before reaching the goal line to help with "how you make a decision", you don't have to signal from that point; make the decision, then make quick eye contact with the ref, if your flag is in your left hand (assuming left backs / right wings), they'll be expecting a GK decision, if in your right hand a CK. You you can then sprint to the goal line and signal at that point.

Not ideal, and will almost certainly cost you Observer Marks, but I would suggest that most players will be a little slower looking at you than the Ref so this will buy you a few moments sprint time.
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Thanks Matty, good advice - I do/have done loads of game as AR, so don't need the practice - just need to iron out this quirk!
 
How far out are you making these decisions from? A ball that is in by a mm can look way out if you're not in line with it. I am sure you know this.
When you see this situation developing you should be busting a gut to get to the line to check the in and out as otherwise you're on educated guesswork which isn't ideal.
It sounds to me like you religiously sticking with second to last defender when in fact you should follow the ball if it is closer to the goal line as per lotg guidelines. Sorry if wrong but its only reason I can think why you wouldnt follow the ball all the way to line:
Positioning of assistant referees and additional assistant referees:
The AR must be in line with the second-last defender or the ball if it is nearer
to the goal line than the second-last defender.

I wouldnt say to do this all the time, there are times when its not neccessary. Gk kicking from hands, ball running through clearly to keeper but if you can adjust the mindset that in fact you can leave the second last defender to follow the ball you should find your way to the line in a more optimum position to call in or out.
 
JamesL said:
How far out are you making these decisions from? A ball that is in by a mm can look way out if you're not in line with it. I am sure you know this.
When you see this situation developing you should be busting a gut to get to the line to check the in and out as otherwise you're on educated guesswork which isn't ideal.
It sounds to me like you religiously sticking with second to last defender when in fact you should follow the ball if it is closer to the goal line as per lotg guidelines. Sorry if wrong but its only reason I can think why you wouldnt follow the ball all the way to line:
Positioning of assistant referees and additional assistant referees:
The AR must be in line with the second-last defender or the ball if it is nearer
to the goal line than the second-last defender.

I wouldnt say to do this all the time, there are times when its not neccessary. Gk kicking from hands, ball running through clearly to keeper but if you can adjust the mindset that in fact you can leave the second last defender to follow the ball you should find your way to the line in a more optimum position to call in or out.
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Thanks for the advice James.

Not sure I explained it very clearly. This and other times it has happened to me tends to be from a tackle or quick ball played forward - so it as I am sure we all realise it would be impossible to 'beat' the ball and get to line - but instead of making the best of it and continuing my run, I tend to stop to make the decision. Thanks all for the advice, will let you know when another one of these comes up and let you know if I managed to get to the line!
 
Don't be afraid to keep moving with the back line, if the second time last man is on the goal line you can keep going so rather than being a few yards in front, you can be a few yards behind the goal line. If the ball gets cleared down the field you can push up anyways, and you'll have a perfect view at a slight angle behind the goal line to see past the near post.

Anotber thing to consider: once you've made your decision, move towards the corner flag. By the time the players turn around and look up, they'll see you moving towards it, if you're not already there.
 
I have instilled in myself the image of the only correct signalling for a goal kick and corner kick is when I am standing next to the corner flag. The more you do it the easier it gets. No if I ever signal away from the corner flag it feels wrong. Knowing you have to get to the corner flag to signal kind of forces you to continue your run even if you know the ball is going to go out when you are still 10 yards away.

If I ever have to let the referee know before getting to the corner flag, I use a discrete signals with my non flag hand (or on some occasions using comms).
 
SurreySuperRef said:
Don't be afraid to keep moving with the back line, if the second time last man is on the goal line you can keep going so rather than being a few yards in front, you can be a few yards behind the goal line. If the ball gets cleared down the field you can push up anyways, and you'll have a perfect view at a slight angle behind the goal line to see past the near post.

Anotber thing to consider: once you've made your decision, move towards the corner flag. By the time the players turn around and look up, they'll see you moving towards it, if you're not already there.
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You're right about keeping moving and getting to the corner flag quickly but I wouldn't advise going behind the goal line. Angles are not our friends. On the goal line is the only place to make an accurate goal/no goal or ball in/out decision.
 
one said:
I have instilled in myself the image of the only correct signalling for a goal kick and corner kick is when I am standing next to the corner flag. The more you do it the easier it gets. No if I ever signal away from the corner flag it feels wrong. Knowing you have to get to the corner flag to signal kind of forces you to continue your run even if you know the ball is going to go out when you are still 10 yards away.

If I ever have to let the referee know before getting to the corner flag, I use a discrete signals with my non flag hand (or on some occasions using comms).
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This is a really good tip. Flagging for a corner from the edge of the PA is a "wrong" signal, in the same way that flagging for an attacking throw over your head with the flag in your left hand is wrong. I think this answer has explained why I've never had this problem - because it genuinely didn't occur to me not to get to the appropriate point before flagging.
 
PP62 said:
You're right about keeping moving and getting to the corner flag quickly but I wouldn't advise going behind the goal line. Angles are not our friends. On the goal line is the only place to make an accurate goal/no goal or ball in/out decision.
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I don't mean right behind it, but a couple of yards. If you're directly square on with the goal post you can't see what's going on if there's a contentious decision to make.
 
I note in the prem, ARs signal for GKs from behind the corner flag (behind the goal line). Is this taught across the UK pyramid? And not at Fifa? Or?
 
Not sure this is a thing. It might happen from time to time as there is no l9nger a requirement to be in line with the goal area for the signal. So if the ar is at the line he signals at the line. If he is 4 yards up the pitch he signals up the pitch. It might be that the cameras only pan to the ar on closer decisions giving the illusion you have but i am certain its not a thing
 
Funnily enough, this was one of the things that we have covered in a recent seminar.

As @HarryD said, crab down signalling for a corner. By the couple of seconds it takes for the players to turn, you will be by the corner flag and be credible.
 
Well, theory says that if the ball is on the goal line, that's the offside line, and that's where you're supposed to be. But this may turn out to be quite hard to achieve in real life, as the ball goes faster than all of us, so why not trying some of this tips that worked for me? As usual, I encourage you (and anyone) to always try new things in youth or lower level games whenever possible before implementing them in our toolkit.

  1. run the line enough times to feel comfortable while running upfield and downfield without any need to stop to set your attention on anything. What you see (esp. field markings and the goal) should be enough for you to know where you are. This may sound odd but some seasons ago knowing where I was used to be one of the reasons why I had to stop to make decisions.
  2. often, it's all about making a decision that looks correct rather than about making a correct decision. Why this cynicism? Well, you're going to get a lot of comments if you make a correct decision one yard away from the goal line, but you'll probably get less than a quarter if you're exactly at the goal line and you get it wrong.
  3. this brings us to the big thing: make whatever you need to do in order to be at the goal line whenever the ball is there. This is the best way we can make a correct decision, and this is the way that looks best. Some times it's all about the running technique, so...
  4. so incorporate small lateral steps into your routine. They're very useful for that moment you need to move just one yard and you have half a second to do it from scratch. They're great when you are assessing some free kicks that are likely to be a cross rather than a shot on goal.
Good luck!
 
SamSkywalker said:
often, it's all about making a decision that looks correct rather than about making a correct decision. Why this cynicism? Well, you're going to get a lot of comments if you make a correct decision one yard away from the goal line, but you'll probably get less than a quarter if you're exactly at the goal line and you get it wrong.
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I don't quite agree with that. I would say at best "Its just as important to make a decision that looks correct as it is making a correct decision". If you ever make the right decision from the wrong place then just wear the criticism. But making wrong decisions... well that is just wrong no matter how right you look :).

Good advice on 1. 3. and 4. though :)
 
one said:
I don't quite agree with that. I would say at best "Its just as important to make a decision that looks correct as it is making a correct decision". If you ever make the right decision from the wrong place then just wear the criticism. But making wrong decisions... well that is just wrong no matter how right you look :).

Good advice on 1. 3. and 4. though :)
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You're right. Maybe I've over-emphasised the importance of appearing to be making the right decision, but I see you get me. Obviously, I want to get things right ^^
 
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