Saturday, August 13, 2011

Start now.

Legs, legs, legs.
You will be surprised the effects a long day of officiating will have on your legs. The more skilled you become at being in position, the less you will actually chase wrestlers during a match, but you will still have constant level changes.

If you are not a jogger, at least get out and do some long walks in the park now. If you are a jogger, start working up to a minimum of 3 runs a week of 1.5 to three miles.

If you start the season with some muscular endurance in your legs, you will be a much better official.

A couple of other things you may want to try for experience.

Volunteer to be a line Judge at a Volleyball game. I have attended my High Schools Volleyball games since my first week at the school. I have done the line judge job in the past, but today, I worked 4 games in a tournament. The need to make quick decisions, with some hand signals that were unusual to me reminded me of how I felt out on the mat, the first few times I officiated. I wanted to get everything right, but my inexperience with the hand signals made it difficult.

Volunteer to help with the chain gang at a High School football game. You will not have that feeling of making quick decisions, but you will be part of an officiating crew. You may pick up a tip from an experienced official that helps you get through your first season as a wrestling official.

Get out there and make sure you are in shape mentally, and physically before you have to blow that first whistle.

There will be opportunities for in person training sessions with The MAWOA, and the GWOA. Those that can make these sessions will benefit highly. If you ever want to become a GHSA official, you should attend them. I will post the training dates, as well as our training tournaments as soon as the information is available.

11 comments:

  1. Great advice! As a former wrestler, it helps to have a ref who is willing to go the exta effort to make sure they get every call.

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  2. Thanks for the helpful tips. Bobby B.

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  3. good physical prep and good shoes make all the difference!

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  4. Something about walking around on soft mats can make your feet hurt. The shoes are very important. Thanks Mercedes.

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  5. Some of you who haven't officiated before don't realize how tired your legs will get. When you were a wrestler you didn't notice how much the official moves around and gets up and down on the mat. After several hours you will feel it no matter how old you are.

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  6. A few Push-ups and Sit-ups won't hurt either. Billy K

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  7. thanks for the insight. Cullen C and Bill C

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  8. do about 5 miles a day for the wrestling season. Cullen C.

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  9. so doing vollleyball line judginging helps. Would that be with our highschool because our head coach for volleyball hates me. Cullen C.

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  10. Great idea, Mark.

    Dave Goren

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