A&H

Crabbing and Flagging

Sheff Ref

Member
Level 6 Referee
i was assessed on the line on Saturday and I got told that my crabbing was good but that I should hold the flag in my right hand as it was naturally in the right place to signal offside, corner, gk etc. is that correct as I was previously told to hold it in my left due to it being in the referees view and closest to the FOP (Assuming I'm running left backs - standard position)
 
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The flag should always be in the hand closed to the referee. So if you're crapping and running left backs, it should be in the left hand for the majority of the game.
 
As said above, left hand when crabbing. Very bad advice you got from that assessor mate. It is a more natural position for sprinting to your left (towards the goal line) as you would otherwise need to change hand before sprinting which is not great. Slows you down fractionally and introduces the risk of dropping the flag when you need to be sprinting!

@Jacko - lol
 
Flag should always be in the left hand unless you are sprinting towards the half way line (assuming we are running left backs) if the right hand is closest to the referee then the ref must be out of position or he really doesn't trust you
 
Note that the high level ARs are now (for the past 3-4 years now?) being told to change to the right hand when passing into the penalty area. This is supposed to signal to the referee that the second last defender (or ball) is now within the penalty area (well, the final 18 yards of the pitch at least). It also helps since most calls that will be made in that zone will be with the right hand (goal kick, corner kick, etc).

But otherwise? Hand closest to half or the field of play (depending on which way you're facing at any given time).
 
Thanks all, I understood that the left hand was correct and hence this feedback confused me. Every assessor has their own preferences I guess....
 
Thanks all, I understood that the left hand was correct and hence this feedback confused me. Every assessor has their own preferences I guess....
But let me be clear and I'm sure @lincs22 will confirm, this advice was wrong. That's the beauty of assessor advice, you can either take it or leave it. If you leave it and it doesn't impact on your marks, you've not lost. I'd bet that if you followed this piece of advice, it would be picked up by 90% of the assessors throughout the remainder of the season as a development area.
 
But let me be clear and I'm sure @lincs22 will confirm, this advice was wrong. That's the beauty of assessor advice, you can either take it or leave it. If you leave it and it doesn't impact on your marks, you've not lost. I'd bet that if you followed this piece of advice, it would be picked up by 90% of the assessors throughout the remainder of the season as a development area.

Thanks Brian, can you just clarify from a L5/assessor point of view whether the flag should be transferred over to the right hand towards penalty area?
 
Thanks Brian, can you just clarify from a L5/assessor point of view whether the flag should be transferred over to the right hand towards penalty area?
Not a piece of advice I've ever heard of. I'm a Level 3 tutor and currently in the middle of the induction process to become a Contributory League Assessor. Can't see it anywhere in my tutor notes or assessor competencies.
 
Is it correct when crabbing to hold the flag according to which team has possession - attacking my half, flag in left... defenders in my half with the ball, then flag in right....?

This way always ready to sprint in the direction of play.
 
No. Keep the flag in the hand closest to the referee or the halfway line (ie, proper diagonal would be left hand). If you need to run towards the halfway line, flag moves to the hand closest to the referee (ie, proper diagonal would now be the right hand) until you crab again... then... back to the left.
 
No. Keep the flag in the hand closest to the referee or the halfway line (ie, proper diagonal would be left hand). If you need to run towards the halfway line, flag moves to the hand closest to the referee (ie, proper diagonal would now be the right hand) until you crab again... then... back to the left.

No. Keep your flag between you and the referee. You only switch hands early if you can see the ball is going out of play and by holding it this way, and slightly out from your body, you're offering an opinion to the referee before a decision has to be made.
 
Flag should be in the right hand only when using that hand to signal or when having your back towards the goal line. On a side note, if I need to make a short, intensive sprint e.g. when the back line pushes out I often keep my flag in the left hand even though that's the "wrong" side. Has to do with not having to waste momentum by swapping hands.
 
Got it as a tip from my mentor some time ago, part of his reasoning was if you're making a quick, sudden change of direction you'd rather be 100% focused on what's happening rather than spending the slightest of efforts on swapping, he also says it's a lot easier to have your flag slip out of your hands if you suddenly have to swap it...
 
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