Shot Blocked...

[ChunkyDA]

by the ref. Happened twice tonight, once on each side of the court.
Timing was kind of off anyway but #2 was a nice no-look pass.

[ChrisK10]

Dang, I hate when that happens. I find myself moving a lot. I move from side to side depending on where the ref is to try and avoid missing the shot.

[Ampersand.]

i've shot a lot of sports and i swear when it comes to basketball (and football too) the refs seem to purposely position themselves in front of us just for kicks.

[Playonpics.com]

I used to ref basketball... Its easily to tell the position the ref's are going to go... When there a lot of traffic in the key the ref will be under the net...
But when the ball is just being passed around they will stay wide so near the 3 point lines... You should be able to position yourself to get the shot... I stay usually near the 3point line (where it meets the End line ) to get basket shots, because most likely the ref will be under the net, watching for blocks or charges or illegal use.

[Zivnuska]

Here's a tip. Take pictures of the refs and print the best one of each member of the crew. Give each ref a print of the most complimentary shot you have of him/her. Don't fight them, you will lose. Work with them and they will sometimes give you tips about how they like to work and where you can do your work with minimal obstruction. They have an important job to do.

I've even had one ref tell me he used to take photos of his kids when they played sports. He said it helped him keep his mouth shut!

[ChasWG]

+1 on what Phil said. The gym my kid played most games at this past season had this very cool and unique feature along the back wall. There is this cut out just off right side paint area. The correct side I like to shoot from. It allows the refs plenty of room to move and me plenty of room to shoot and not be in the way. At the beginning of the last games I shot I was sitting off the paint area on the opposite side and the ref said that she would like to have a bit more room. Fine, I moved back to my cut out area and all was good. Now this woman ref has no set pattern of how she likes to work. She was all over the place. Kind of a bit of a pain, but she has the right of way. So later in the game when there was a piece of trash that got onto the court I quickly jumped up and offered to take care of it for her. She said thanks and for the rest of the game she stayed out of my way. Simply being nice is always the best way to work. I tried to get clean shots of the refs all year long, but I never got any that were very nice. They seemed to be a bit distrustful/stand-off-ish of me for some reason. And besides, every week brought new refs, so it was hard o know which images to bring. Maybe next season.

[snyderman]

I've shot enough games now that some of the refs intentionally setup right in front of me. I'll move 5' one way or the other, and they still do it. Really makes it hard. And I am in no way shape or form in the way of anybody.

dave