En av Europas mest rutinerte og meritterte dommere, finske Carl Jungebrand, har skrevet en interessant artikkel om viktigheten av psykologisk styrke i dommere. Jungebrand arbeider for tiden med dommerutvikling i Euroleague Technical Commission, og har også vært foreleser på utallige dommerclinic'er rundt om i verden. Hans erfaring som dommer på alle nivåer i internasjonal basketball fra finsk basket til OL- og VM-finaler gir ham en unik bakgrunn til å uttale seg om dette området. Artikkelen er såpass lang at vi har valgt å dele den i to deler, her kommer del 1.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRENGTH IN OFFICIATING (1/2)
By Carl Jungebrand (FIN)
CHARACTERISTICS
When referees are asked to name the most valuable characteristics of a good official, they often compile a long list of different skills needed to officiate a game successfully. Having asked this same question at numerous officiating events, across a number of different sports, almost always 90% of the answers are the same. Basically this means that most officials consider these traits to be required and universal. The most common answers are “decision-making, control of the situation, bravery, objectivity, psychological perspective, physical strength, non-verbal communication, understanding and command of regulations, honesty, stress management, athleticism…”
When dividing the characteristics into psychological and physical categories, between 70-90% of all answers fall into the psychological category. There are also characteristics that can be placed into both categories. When asking the same question to anyone in sports, the answers, in my opinion, tend to be similar. This leads me to believe that the base for successful officiating is 70-90% psychological and 10-30% physical.
For this reason, I’d like to ask the following provocative question: “How does the training of officials compare to the characteristics that are required? (Think for a minute before continuing!).
When examining the training of officials, usually the percentages are exactly the opposite. Most often 70% of training focuses on physical and technical factors, while only 30% focuses on psychological factors. I’ve often wondered why this is. There are many potential answers, but the most common reasons are most likely the difficulty of the subject matter for the instructor; the challenge of compiling (let alone understanding) of the training materials; it doesn’t seem based on fact; how to make it relevant to the officials?
LOOKING FOR THE WINNERS
We often run into situations where there aren’t enough officials compared to the number of games scheduled. On the local level, this is even more typical. But if the base of the pyramid isn’t stable, it will also restrict our ability to identify future top officials because there aren’t as many potential candidates. I think we could approach the recruitment of officials with a different plan of action.
I honestly believe that winners – irrespective of their category of employment – can be identified by certain characteristics, decision-making, and operating styles.
Often, the best officials are talented winners, who reach the top of their sport because of their attitude, choices, and a little luck of being in the right place at the right time.
Why aren’t potential officials – especially when moving to the higher ranks of officiating – tested with the same model that employers do when hiring top executives? This would help us determine each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and allow us to find the tools to help refine them. The use of professionals in these types of evaluations is definitely welcome.
RELIANT ON NATURAL ABILITY?
In top-level sport (and top-level activity anywhere), the base of success is built on constant, systematic development. You must have goals, a plan to achieve those goals, monitoring and analysis of progress, a new plan, etc. An official is in the thankless position of rarely having a true coach. There are instructors and educational events, but development most often happens in practice on the court and if that is properly guided, the results are often better. The process is the same as learning to drive a car. You get the basics in driving school, but you don’t really learn until you are out in traffic. In most sports you have instructors for officials, but the practical training and coaching is missing. This part requires a lot of manpower, time and financial resources.
Even without systematic training, in every sport there are occasional officiating “stars” that appear. Where do these “stars” come from? Often they are the talented individuals, whose personality traits are strong in just those areas that are required in officiating. A successful official’s self-description for a pen - pal could look like this:
“I’m a natural leader who doesn’t forget to take others into consideration. I have to make decisions – often difficult ones – that are critical for the operations. Despite all of this, I realise that my role is to observe from the side. I get along with people, but I also know how to keep a distance from people when necessary as to not cloud my judgment. I work well under pressure, I understand that others have high expectations for my performance, and the results often reflect others’ opinion of my success.”
Just as with players, there are officials who are skilled in certain areas more than others. For some, all you have to do is hand them a whistle and a ball and say “take care of business.” For some others you have to teach an official how to walk before they can run.
CONTROL YOURSELF
Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. The line between genius and insanity is very thin. In other words, our strengths can turn against ourselves if we don’t identify and control them. Here are a couple of examples: the ability to work independently is a strength, but being a loner and not recognising the work of others is a weakness… while being goal-oriented is a strength, stubbornness makes operating that much more difficult…
A while ago I was speaking with my father, and I said to him, “you older people are really hard-headed, you never know when to let up.” His answer got me thinking; “why is it that in us older people it’s seen as a negative, while among younger people this same characteristic is considered a positive, as in goal-oriented?”
In the end, the fact is that the problem is over-doing something, which turns it from a positive to a negative. This is why it’s critical to know your own strengths and weaknesses. By recognising them, you’re able to control and guide them. A good thing to remember is that even if you suppress or restrict your weaknesses, they’re never gone forever. When you lose control at some moment, they will again rise to the top.
.... to be continued...