Recently I surveyed highly qualified hockey umpires as to how they acquired their skill of blowing a whistle. The findings were interesting to say the least. According to them they were self taught. As a hockey player for many decades and called upon to volunteer umpire regularly, although volunteer is probably not the right word but rather conscripted, no one taught me also the techniques of using a whistle. Like so many like me, I simply put it in my mouth and blew it when I was called upon to do my duty.
After researching the interesting story about the evolution of the Fox whistle I set about to research information about ‘how to use the umpire’s tool of trade’. What I found out may seem straightforward to a ‘seasoned umpire’ but for a hockey player with only rule knowledge as his asset the findings were educational.
The Whistle
- The whistle is probably the single most important piece of equipment that a referee has.
- Imagine how hard it would be to officiate a match without your whistle.
Each referee must have a whistle attached to a lanyard. In addition, each referee should have an extra whistle in his/her bag at the scorer’s table
How to Blow the Whistle: a skill to learn
- The whistle should be kept in the referee’s mouth during play and removed from the mouth when speaking. The whistle sound should be loud, firm, and decisive. View the below videos
- C – Remember With Confidence
- L – Loudly
- A – With Authority
- P – With Patience
- An official who is not confident in his/her abilities is going to have a difficult time becoming a successful volleyball official.
- If you show confidence in yourself, you will gain the respect of coaches and players more quickly than if you are shaky and unsure.
- Make sure you blow your whistle loudly enough that everyone on the court can hear you.
- Remember: Players are taught to play until they hear the whistle. If you blow your whistle too softly, chances are some players won’t hear it and keep playing, which could lead to someone getting injured and you getting the blame.
- Tip: Blow your whistle loudly enough that a 80-year-old grandma could hear you if she were sitting in the top row of the bleachers.
- When you step on the court, you are in charge.
- Blow your whistle in a way that shows everyone that you are in control of the match.
- Coaches, players, and fans will all try to get inside your head if they believe you do not feel like you are the ultimate authority on the court. Lay down the law and don’t let anyone sway your judgment.
- Do not rush your whistle and signal: It is not a race to see how fast you can blow the whistle and get the next serve started.
- Take your time and pause between your whistle and your signal. There are two reasons for this:
- You give your R2 time to transition to the side that he/she is supposed to be on to mimic your signal.
- It gives the coach time to know what your call was, which will eliminate you having to repeat your call.
- These are just some of the basics of proper whistle blowing technique. I encourage you to take the time to practice some of the tips contained in this presentation. I hope that they will help you become more confident in your abilities to be a great volleyball official.
- HAVE FUN AND KEEP BLOWING THOSE WHISTLES!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then practice the following general coaching points
APPLY the Acronym CLAP
C – With Confidence
Blow your whistle in a manner that shows that you believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that the correct call has been made. Even if you make a bad call, keep being confident in yourself in order to avoid the a snowball effect
L – Loudly
A – With Authority
P – With Patience
Conclusion
