A&H

Positioning

QuaverRef

I used to be indecisive but now i'm not so sure
Level 4 Referee
At my recent assessment, it was highlighted to me that in parts of the game I was standing too central rather than running the diagonal. I started adapting this to my game the following match but it almost felt like I was doing it too often and it felt more forced movement than natural which made me find myself getting a bit lost in the two below scenarios.

- When the ball is played down the left touchline, would you still aim to be out wide to make sure the ball is between you and your assistant, even to the point you're off the pitch? Or would you stay inside (with back to assistant) then sprint out wide when the ball comes inside?

- When the ball is played down the right touchline, naturally I'd have to come central to get a decent view of any incidents, but if a cross is put into the box and subsequently cleared in and around the edge of the box, are you aiming to sprint all the way around to the left hand side? This is where I almost found myself in 'no mans land' in terms of the positioning I'd been advised to take from the assessor, but as I'm trying to get round the left again, the strikers would turn around and play a ball backwards meaning I'm right in their way.

Any advice on this would be appreciated
 
The Referee Store
The trick is to always keep moving. Whether that is walking, crabbing, jogging, running, side stepping, sprinting, all of the above backwards always be on the move.
Oddly I find I am more likely to get in the way when I am stop moving than if moving.
The advice will and should vary between CAR and NAR.
 
I think of it as more of an S than a \
With CARs, a lot of central to right central seems sensible. Just keep the onlookers happy by swerving wide left whenever the opportunity presents :cool:
 
With positioning, don't forget Where, Where, Go!

Where is play going to go?
Where can I go to get a good view of it?
GO!

For your first scenario, you will lose the ref-ball-AR line. You'll probably want to be reasonable wide left because the fouls are completely on you, but you need to be behind play enough that the PA is in your peripheral vision - if the ball is crossed you want to see if anything happens before it drops. And you also want to be able to check your AR without having to turn your head away from the play.

But it also depends a bit on what the others are doing. Nobody in the PA? Then you know he's going to try to beat the defender and run into the middle, so you can adopt a different position to that if you're expecting him to cross it in. Typically you'll want to be just on the inside and a bit behind somebody running down the touch line, so you can easily check the box ahead and your AR without missing anything, and you can easily move across.

As for running down the right wing - I see sooooo many PA incidents missed because the referee has gone too far to the right and an off-the-ball foul has occurred behind their back.

Now, if you have a NAR you should trust them to referee that area, and I'd generally recommend not moving further right than the middle of the park, but you really want to be in a position where you're able to watch the players in the PA. So even the centre might be blocking your view. Don't forget - your AR is watching the ball carrier now, not the off-the-ball stuff. So that makes the PA wholly your responsibility.
No AR is even easier - no difference between left and right, in either case you'll probably move yourself to the side of the ball carrier and able to view the PA and the offside line ahead.
CAR is a bit trickier, but again, I'd suggest prioritising viewing the PA. If the ball carrier is fouled you can probably spot it anyway, but if you're on the right hand side of the field you have zero chance of spotting the jostling in the PA.
 
With positioning, don't forget Where, Where, Go!

Where is play going to go?
Where can I go to get a good view of it?
GO!

For your first scenario, you will lose the ref-ball-AR line. You'll probably want to be reasonable wide left because the fouls are completely on you, but you need to be behind play enough that the PA is in your peripheral vision - if the ball is crossed you want to see if anything happens before it drops. And you also want to be able to check your AR without having to turn your head away from the play.

But it also depends a bit on what the others are doing. Nobody in the PA? Then you know he's going to try to beat the defender and run into the middle, so you can adopt a different position to that if you're expecting him to cross it in. Typically you'll want to be just on the inside and a bit behind somebody running down the touch line, so you can easily check the box ahead and your AR without missing anything, and you can easily move across.

As for running down the right wing - I see sooooo many PA incidents missed because the referee has gone too far to the right and an off-the-ball foul has occurred behind their back.

Now, if you have a NAR you should trust them to referee that area, and I'd generally recommend not moving further right than the middle of the park, but you really want to be in a position where you're able to watch the players in the PA. So even the centre might be blocking your view. Don't forget - your AR is watching the ball carrier now, not the off-the-ball stuff. So that makes the PA wholly your responsibility.
No AR is even easier - no difference between left and right, in either case you'll probably move yourself to the side of the ball carrier and able to view the PA and the offside line ahead.
CAR is a bit trickier, but again, I'd suggest prioritising viewing the PA. If the ball carrier is fouled you can probably spot it anyway, but if you're on the right hand side of the field you have zero chance of spotting the jostling in the PA.


Excellent advice that, cleared a lot up for me. From what you suggested compared to what I do suggests I probably get sucked into play a little too much, focusing on the ball carrier rather than whats going on in the penalty area.
 
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