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PVOA is an organization based in Loudoun County, Virginia, is a professional member of NASO, and dedicated is to the advancement and development of youth sports.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Introduction to Positioning (2-Official System)

An official's job is to enforce the rules and to get the play right.  Not only will being in the right position increase your call accuracy, but knowing where to be and where to go helps your credibility as an official and improves crew cohesion.

In the 2-official system, each official has their own set of responsibilities depending on where they are on the court and what is happening during the game.  You will commonly hear the officials referred to as:
  • Lead Official
  • Trail Official
The lead official leads the play; leading the players towards the basket in which the team on offense is trying to score.  The trail official trails the play; following the players up the court.

Lead and trail officials are always diametrically opposed, which is diagonally opposite of each other.  Imagine drawing a rectangular box with the officials are on opposite corners.  The goal here is to box the players in so that the officials have the best angle to see everything going on in front of them.


The pictures above represents the initial starting positions of the lead and trail official in the half court set.

Initial Positioning


The Lead Official:
  • Is between the outer lane line and the three-point line
  • A depth of 3-6 feet (if able)
  • Has primary responsibility for the yellow shaded area in the above picture
The Trail Official:
  • Is at or above the top of the key
  • Works the "arc"
  • Closes down on the shot (take a step towards the basket and pickup rebounding action)
  • Has primary responsibility for the red shaded area in the above picture


Boxing the Play


From the default positions, the officials should be in a good position to see most of the action.  However, depending on the movement of the players and especially the ball handler and primary defender, the officials should be constantly adjusting the box.  Officials should move to avoid getting stacked (straight-lined), to get a better view of the play, and be in a position to rule on a possible out-of-bounds play.


Maintaining the "box" is important.  Officials should be constantly adjusting this box in order to be in position to see as many players as possible.

Areas of Movement


The lead official has an area of movement from the outside line of the lane all the way over to the near sideline.  The trail official "works the arc" and should stay between the center of the court and the near sideline.

Transitioning


The image above represents the half-court set and the movement of the officials.  What happens on the transition when the ball moves to the other side of the court?  Simple, the old lead becomes the new trail and picks up the responsibilities of the trail official.  The old trail becomes the new lead and picks up the responsibilities of the lead official.

The important thing to mention here is that while the ball is live, the two officials will always stay diametrically opposed on their lateral side of the court (the one exception is on a made basket).  Imagine folding the court in half horizontally: the official above the fold will always be above the fold while the ball is live and the official below the fold will always be below the fold while the ball is live.

In the image below, the official that's currently the lead official will always be above the blue line.  The official that's currently the trail official will always be below the blue line.  This will be true as long as the ball is live (again, the exception is on a made basket since the ball is dead when the try enters the basket).




Common Positioning Mistakes New Officials Make
  • Ball watching: Not watching the matchups in their primary area and instead focusing on the ball handler and the primary defender.
  • Not Maintaining the Box: Letting the player and the ball get outside the box without readjustment.  
  • Drifting Over: This is usually something the trail official does.  As the ball handler goes to the other side of the court, the trail official will follow instead of maintaining proper lateral positioning.  What ends up happening is both officials will be on the same lateral side of the side (sharing a sideline), leaving the other side uncovered.

To learn more about different aspects of positioning for 2 officials, click on one of the tabs below:


Just like how the court is split up into primary coverage areas for the lead and trail officials, each official has a specific job when it comes to policing the different lines on a basketball court (sideline, endline, and division line).


The lead official is always responsible for two lines: the near sideline and the near endline (See image above).

The trail official is always responsible for three lines: the near sideline, the division line, and the far endline (See image above).

The official who is responsible for the boundary line has the responsibility for out-of-bounds call.  For example, the lead should never call a backcourt violation and the trail should never call an out-of-bounds on the lead's endline.

After calling the out-of-bounds, determining what happens on the inbounds as it relates to positioning is simple:
  • If it's your line of responsibility, then you are responsible for inbounding the ball (rotate as necessary)
  • Exception: On a play in the backcourt where the defense knocks the ball out-of-bounds on the far sideline from the trail, the trail official will always inbound in this case even though the lead official is still responsible for calling the out-of-bounds

When inbounding the ball, please observe the following tips/principles:
  • If the ball goes out-of-bounds in the lane endline, move the player to outside the lane closet to the lane line where the ball went out-of-bounds to inbound.  This is to avoid the player throwing the ball and hitting the basket or backboard.
  • When inbounding on the endline in the frontcourt, the lead must give the ball to the player.
  • When inbounding on the endline in the backcourt, the trail should bounce the ball to the player.
  • When inbounding on the sideline, the lead and trail should to bounce the ball to the player.
  • The official inbounding the ball must be on the outside of the player (closer to the sideline or division line or endline).
  • Always sweep the floor prior to putting the ball in play.
In addition, when inbounding the ball, the official should move away from the player (about 5-7 feet) while administering the inbounds.  This is so that the official has a wider angle to see the whole play.

Take a look at the following examples with it relates to simple out-of-bounds.  For more complex out-of-bound plays that involves rotations, please see the Rotations tab.

Play #1: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the endline in the lane: this is a frontcourt inbound (play is going left).  The lead official should move the ball to outside the lane in order to inbound.
 


Play #2: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the endline by the lead: this is a frontcourt inbound (play is going left).  The lead official is outside of the player in this scenario as the lead official is closer to the near sideline than the player.

















Play #3: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the sideline by the trail: this is a frontcourt inbound (play is going left).  The trail official is outside of the player as the trail official is closer to the division line than the player.


Play #4: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the sideline by the trail: this is a backcourt inbound (play is going to the left).  The trail official is outside of the player as the trail official is closer to the endline than the player.



Typically, for most out-of-bound scenarios there does not need to be a rotation of the officials.

However, that is not always the case:

  • If the ball goes out-of-bounds on the lead's sideline above the free-throw line extended, the lead will rotate up to become the trail and inbound the ball as trail.  If the ball goes out-of-bounds on the lead's sideline below the free-throw line extended, the lead does not need to rotate and will bounce the ball to the inbounding player.
  • If the ball goes out-of-bounds on the trail's sideline below the free-throw line extended, the trail will rotate down and become the lead and inbound the ball as lead.  If the ball goes-out-of-bounds on the trail's sideline above the free-throw line extended, the trail does not need to rotate and will bounce the ball to the inbounding player.

Play #1: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the lead's sideline above the free-throw line extended: this is a frontcourt inbound (play is going to the left).  Since the ball is above the free-throw line extended the lead will rotate up and become trail to handle the inbounds.  The trail will rotate down and become the lead.

Note: The picture below does not reflect the correct primary area of coverage following the rotation.



















Play #2: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the trail's sideline below the free-throw line extended: this is a frontcourt inbound (play is going left).  Since the ball is below the free-throw line extended the trail will rotate down and become lead to handle the inbounds.  The lead will rotate up and become the trail.

Note: The picture below does not reflect the correct primary area of coverage following the rotation.















Play #3: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the endline opposite of the lead: this is a frontcourt inbound (play is going left).  Since the ball is on the opposite side, the lead will rotate over to the other side of the basket to handle the inbounds.  The trail will rotate to the appropriate side as well.

Note: The picture below does not reflect the correct primary area of coverage following the rotation.















Play #4: Ball goes out-of-bounds on the lead's sideline in the backcourt: this is a backcourt inbound (play is going left).  In this play, since the ball went out-of-bounds on the lead's sideline, the lead is still responsible for calling the ball out-of-bounds.  However, since it's a backcourt inbound, the trail will handle the inbound.  The trail will rotate over to the other side of the basket to handle the inbound.  The lead will rotate to the appropriate side as well.

Note: The picture below does not reflect the correct primary area of coverage following the rotation.
















Note on Crew Harmony as it Relates to Inbound Rotations
Be aware of where the ball goes out of bounds and start the rotation as necessary.

In examples #1 and #3 above, the trail official should know that the lead official will be rotating.  In this case, rotate along with the lead official.  Do not wait until the lead official is in position before realizing, "Oh, I need to rotate!"

In example #2 and #4 above, the lead official should know that the trail official will be rotating.  In this case, rotate along with the trail official.  Do not wait until the lead official is in position before realizing, "Oh, I need to rotate!"

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