An overrule causes different reactions in different players.
Some players yell and scream and think they have truly been violated.
And some just frown and keep playing--but much is said in that frown.
In an ITA dual match there is probably no subject that garners more attention than overrules--how many were or were not given and the reaction to those overrules... One of our premier leaders in the ITA world recently said, "If you have more than 5 overrules in a season, you are probably overruling too often." Might be some food for thought for some officials...
Consider these scenarios:
* I was referee at the Men's National Indoor Tournament in Dallas a few years ago and I was called to court #1. When I got there, I asked the official in the chair what was going on. He said, "I have one code violation, three overrules on one player, and two overrules on the other." After trying to catch my breath and not hyperventilate, I asked him what the score was and he said, "3-2 in the first set." Go figure...
* A new official came off the court after chairing his first singles match and was beaming with pride. When asked why he was so happy, he said, "I only had 4 overrules in my first match. I must be doing great!"
* A TCU #1 player was defaulted in a dual match with Baylor a few years ago for 5 overrules.
* A player recently bragged that he gets at least two overrules in all of his singles matches. Wouldn't you love to be his chair official...
* A new chair official was asked by her referee was the score was and she beamed and said, "4-4 in the first set. The referee then asked, "How many overrules do you have?" The chair smiled and said, "Only 4!"
Here are some things to remember when asking how many overrules are too many:
* Sometimes a player just simply cheats and its not the official's fault at all if there are a lot of overrules.
* Some coaches teach their players to cheat on the far sideline early in the match to see "what the chair official will do." Again, not the fault of the chair.
* If you are overruling 2-3 times in every match, you should probably stop and think a bit before your next match.
* 5-8 overrules in a season is a lot.
* A bunch of overrules is not a good sign and is certainly not a badge of honor.
* ALWAYS remember that you have to be 100% sure to overrule and you are to overrule when there is a clear error.
9 comments:
But those hippies in Arkansas want us to overrule everything. So when the Referee personally tells you he wants to see lots of overrules, what do you do as an official. For me, that's easy. I will never work for such a 'monkey's uncle' again.
You will learn to overrule when called upon. Some of my former Arkie officials would overrule early and often. Their reason being is everything is downhill after that. A player wouldn't dare cheat once he knows the next overrule will cost him a point, or worse.
Some officials get stuck working the known cheaters more often than not. In those cases, then you simply overrule when you feel the need is right (AND A BAD CALL WAS DEFINITELY MADE).
Some officials will overrule against players simply because they are playing their home team, i.e., Tulsa. Everybody knows there's no finer home cookin' than at Tulsa. May be one reason they struggle to attract good qualified officials for their home matches.
HMM I must not be a good chair then having roughly 15 overrules in 30+ chaired matches this year
I would like to switch the question around. We all know of players that need to be "watched" more closely on their calls than other players. I would like to ask those players how many overrules do you get per match/per season. I would like to ask them their thought process and their motivation when they make a "questionable" call.
I agree there are some officials that may be more eager to make an overrule call. Also, there are officials that never make an overrule. I don't think the blame should be placed on the official each and every time.
Some players are known to make "close calls" on a regular basis and the more experienced officials are nearly always assigned to their matches so it would make sense that those officials would have more overrules. A referee would be stupid to put an inexperienced official on a known cheater's match.
Another good topic is how many times should you play the same team in one year to help pad your win/loss record without ethics being called into question?
Need some clarification here. What is the difference between 100% sure and a clear error? I'm perplexed on that one!
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