How Do I Become Better at my Craft?

Hopefully this is something that you are asking yourself as a professional official.  As pros, we know that there is no finish line.  There isn't a point where you can say, "I'm perfect.  I've learned all that I can about this sport, and I've achieved greatness."  Just like athletes, we must continue to challenge ourselves to learn new skills and push ourselves to become better.  But we can't forget the basics.  Even at the highest level of the sport, players spend hours each week doing conditioning workouts, and basic passing drills.  We have to do the same.
While this isn't a comprehensive list, here are some suggestions of things you can do to become a better official.  Feel free to write in with your own suggestions if you have them:

- Study.  Become a student of the game.  When you take your annual exam, ask yourself why they ask certain questions.  If you missed some questions - don't just look up the answer and consider it done.  Do you understand why it was asked and how it's applied?  Could you answer it again if someone asked?
- Watch more volleyball.  Did you catch the World Cup games on TV?  They had most of them on from Japan.  Are you going to junior tournaments on the weekend?  What are the trends in the game, and what are teams doing differently?
- Train with your partners.  We don't always get to work with partners, but we should take every opportunity that we do to make each other better.  Do you take time to debrief after each match?  You should.  Do you budget time after a tournament to spend time with your partners at dinner to talk about things that you saw?
- Set Goals.  The best officials set goals at the beginning of each season.  Write them in your rule book.  One or two are fine.  Let your partner know about them, and ask for feedback.
- Ref more volleyball.  When you are reffing, no matter what level, you can work on one thing.  Slow match?  Do you have both rotations memorized?  Can you name the server before you look?  It's a great way to stay focused, and you'll be amazed at how helpful it will be in tougher matches.  If you can travel, you can work every weekend in the Spring if you'd like.  We continue to expand our opportunities locally as well.
- Go to camps.  Best training we have.  PAVO runs camps in the spring, and USAV has them at all the major tournaments.  Scholarships are available.
- Get rated early.  NCR offers ratings for all their officials.  Get them early.  It helps you to focus on goals for the year.  Use the trainers to help you, that's why they are there.
- Stay in shape.  As professionals, it helps to look the part.  Stay in physical shape.  We don't move much, but anyone who as done a 10 match day knows that you can be exhausted at the end of it.  Staying in shape helps fight the physical and mental fatigue that can happen.
- Don't forget your eyes.  Our #1 resource is our eyes.  Did you have your vision checked this year?  Superior performers possess superior visual skills.  You can train your eyes to become stronger and focus quicker.  I’ll write more about this later.
- Give praise.  You know the best games are where no one notices the referee.  When is the last time you told your peer how well they did, or when they made a good call?  Pay it forward.  It will come back tenfold.

Enjoy your season!

Travis Karlin
NCR Officials Chair
travis@ncrusav.org