how to get better at spotting fouls quickly?
- Thread starter cbr180
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ChasObserverRefDeveloper
Regular Contributor
How do you know you are missing the offences? If one or other coaches are telling you, chances are their team lost(!) If both coaches say the same, ask a more experienced local referee to watch one of your games - the local FA or Referees' Association can help with that.
If you are missing possible upper body offences, two things to consider:
a) Are you too close, and looking at players' feet and ball?
b) Are you looking at players' feet and legs rather than the full picture?
Aim to be around 10-15 metres from the action (in 11-a-side) to make the full body option easier.
Well done for asking the question.
If you are missing possible upper body offences, two things to consider:
a) Are you too close, and looking at players' feet and ball?
b) Are you looking at players' feet and legs rather than the full picture?
Aim to be around 10-15 metres from the action (in 11-a-side) to make the full body option easier.
Well done for asking the question.
An underrated quality.
I’d also add not to be too hard on yourself. While experience isn’t a passive skill - you won’t get better just by doing more games, you do have to work at it - the more you back yourself to be in the right place and be able to detect fouls, the more it will become something you do without thinking about it.
I've been refereeing a few years now and foul recognition is still what I feel is my weakest attribute or the consistency with it. When to let a bump go, when to call it. A grab here and grab there. Lord knows I dread when an attacker is chasing a ball into the box and the keeper is coming out.
I ALWAYS ask for feedback from my assistant referees at halftime and after the match, but I rarely get good feedback because I'm usually older than them and I guess they just want to move along. That is one of the many reasons I like refereeing with my sons. They aren't afraid to give me negative feedback! : ) I do feel that I get too close to the ball and it is one of the things I'm working on.
I ALWAYS ask for feedback from my assistant referees at halftime and after the match, but I rarely get good feedback because I'm usually older than them and I guess they just want to move along. That is one of the many reasons I like refereeing with my sons. They aren't afraid to give me negative feedback! : ) I do feel that I get too close to the ball and it is one of the things I'm working on.
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As others have said, so much is just experience. But then, as they say, while wisdom comes form learning from our mistakes, true wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others. Watching other refs (good or bad) a the level you are refereeing can help See what they do or don't call and how it is perceived. (Relying on what you see in professional games can be misleading when refereeing at lower levels, as what players can and want to play through is different.)
It can be tough to know from reactions whether we are missing stuff or whether folks are just whining. But there can be a clue when both teams seem to think fouls are being missed--it can be a clue that your foul bar is too high for the particular game.
Lastly, anticipate. By that I don't mean pre-judge. I mean anticipate where players are likely to come together, and what kind of foul has the higher potential--is a slide tackle coming or a potentially excessive charge? That can help focus you on where your attention is most needed. (Of course, we still have to keep a more broad awareness, but anticipating helps us be less likely to be surprised--the surprises can be the ones that are hard to call in the moment.)
It can be tough to know from reactions whether we are missing stuff or whether folks are just whining. But there can be a clue when both teams seem to think fouls are being missed--it can be a clue that your foul bar is too high for the particular game.
Lastly, anticipate. By that I don't mean pre-judge. I mean anticipate where players are likely to come together, and what kind of foul has the higher potential--is a slide tackle coming or a potentially excessive charge? That can help focus you on where your attention is most needed. (Of course, we still have to keep a more broad awareness, but anticipating helps us be less likely to be surprised--the surprises can be the ones that are hard to call in the moment.)
As others have said, it will come with experience. One thing I've seen new referees do a lot, and it took an assessor telling me to know that I did it myself, is looking at the ball as it is in the air. Nothing is going to happen to the ball whilst it is up there, but there is likely to be a push between two players at ground level so that is where your focus needs to be.
The other is not getting an angle on challenges. You don't have x-ray vision, so if you see an attacker appeal that he was pushed by a defender but are looking straight at it you won't have a clue whether there was actually a push or not, whereas if if you had an angled view you'd see it. Which aligns to being in the right place for the drop zone, something that also comes with experience, and arguably is more difficult now than when I started as you could pretty much guarantee that every goal kick or drop kick would be punted long.
The other is not getting an angle on challenges. You don't have x-ray vision, so if you see an attacker appeal that he was pushed by a defender but are looking straight at it you won't have a clue whether there was actually a push or not, whereas if if you had an angled view you'd see it. Which aligns to being in the right place for the drop zone, something that also comes with experience, and arguably is more difficult now than when I started as you could pretty much guarantee that every goal kick or drop kick would be punted long.