Whistle hand

[Kref]

Does anyone else in this thread use their non-dominant hand to hold their whistle?

 

[RustyRef]

Does anyone else in this thread use their non-dominant hand to hold their whistle?

If you vote in the poll you can answer your own question as you will see the results.

 

[Justylove]

Not many of us left handers around!

 

[Max2]

I was pinged for giving "policeman signals" in my observation report that came through yesterday - pointing for the direction of the foul with one hand and the location with the other simultaneously. The observers clear preference and development advice being that you should signal direction THEN position if needed...thoughts?

Absolute pet hate

 

[Big Cat]

Absolute pet hate

Typical Ref nonsense observation assessment type blah blah
Nail a game on MC and AOL, every non-Ref delighted with the Match Officials... and the R gets marked down for this sorta thing, that counts for nowt

 

[RustyRef]

I was pinged for giving "policeman signals" in my observation report that came through yesterday - pointing for the direction of the foul with one hand and the location with the other simultaneously. The observers clear preference and development advice being that you should signal direction THEN position if needed...thoughts?

Yes, that is pretty standard advice, it can look confusing if you signal the direction one way and then point in a completely different direction. 9 times out of 10 you don't need to indicate where the free kick is anyway and can manage it verbally.

I'd take your policeman signals, I got told I looked like a teapot

 

[bmace3]

I use 2 whistles linked by their split rings. Molten dolfin is what I use and hold a Fox40 original. Generally use my right hand but I am left handed. When I’m using the book just pop it in my pocket. No reason but my wrist lanyard broke and just used that as a one off and liked it and kept with it.

 

[Ben448844]

Typical Ref nonsense observation assessment type blah blah
Nail a game on MC and AOL, every non-Ref delighted with the Match Officials... and the R gets marked down for this sorta thing, that counts for nowt

Agreed. What goes on in these peoples heads?

I'm sure there's a few observers out there that are looking for their own bit of niche advice because they think it makes them appear clever and studious. In reality its over officious, dull and a bit weird!

 

[santa sangria]

Finger grip left hand
Right hand is for writing

…bonus weirdness… I was born with two fingers stuck together on my left hand (third and fourth, syndactyly, separated at six) and the finger grip is quite happy there!

 

[one]

They are in the aisle with the tartan paint and the long stands.

Found the paint in the aisle but no whistle

 

[Big Cat]

So I recall thinking about 'in which to hold the whistle' during my very first game. I concluded my left hand (I'm right-handed) was the way to go as it frees up my right-hand for anything else. 'The Referee's a w*****!"... and anything else I might need hand-eye coordination for

 

[NOVARef]

Not to derail this thread but reading all the posts made me think to ask this question...How do you feel about very verbal refs with which directions throw ins are going....for example, the ball goes out. Do you just signal or do you often signal and say..."Off white, blue throw" or something like that. What about goal kicks and corners? How vocal are you with your calls? Pros and cons to being vocal?

 

[one]

.

Not to derail this thread but reading all the posts made me think to ask this question...How do you feel about very verbal refs with which directions throw ins are going....for example, the ball goes out. Do you just signal or do you often signal and say..."Off white, blue throw" or something like that. What about goal kicks and corners? How vocal are you with your calls? Pros and cons to being vocal?

Fairly sure it would derail the thread? I thought this thread was going well and I was enjoying the comments. New thread would have been good. But while you are here, in general I don't verbalise it. Some circumstances I do are when close call, two opponents going for the ball and not paying attention to signal and I want to prevent any confrontation. Also sometimes when I have the half time blues I use voice without signal.

 

[GraemeS]

Not to derail this thread but reading all the posts made me think to ask this question...How do you feel about very verbal refs with which directions throw ins are going....for example, the ball goes out. Do you just signal or do you often signal and say..."Off white, blue throw" or something like that. What about goal kicks and corners? How vocal are you with your calls? Pros and cons to being vocal?

I think that actually ties into a bigger "refereeing style" question actually. I'm a naturally quiet person and so my personal approach is to try and be low impact and remain in the background where possible. And part of that is avoiding overusing the whistle or overusing verbal decisions where possible. Of course this only works if you can also develop a sense of when being low-impact isn't enough and are able to step up to being more involved when the game or even an individual decision requires it.

Similarly, I've seen other refs take very much the opposite approach - combining physicality (ie this works particularly well if you're tall and broad) with loud signals wherever possible. The idea being that players end up looking for you and and waiting for your call at every decision by default. Of course, the down side of this is that an unusually long pause or hesitation before a decision ends up looking indecisive rather than just normal as it hopefully does with my approach.

Either way, I think the general answer is to find an approach that works for you, stick to it the majority of the time and learn to recognise when it's appropriate to step out of that pattern.

In terms of derailing the thread, I do think this could maybe do with a separate thread - @Ross would it be possible to split this post and the responses off?

 

[LothianRef]

Am I just strange or something, I use whistle in left hand and am right handed. For me I use the Fox 40 Classic with a wrist lanyard so that it just hangs off my left wrist the whole game. Anyone else do this?

Opposite for me - I'm left handed but hold in my right hand. I use two clipped together on a lanyard, although I only really use one of the two as the second one is there as I find it easier for grip.

 

[RefIADad]

I use two whistles on a finger grip that isn't wrapped around my fingers. I can signal with either hand. I hold the whistle in my left hand 95% of the time. I almost always signal (with either hand) when I'm not holding the whistle in my mouth. The only time I switch to my right hand is when I signal for an IDFK with my left hand.

I'm generally right handed, but I do throw a Frisbee left-handed, so I'm not completely and totally right-hand dominant.