Mark Yourself Out of 10.
Displaying a calm body language whilst dealing with problems is a difficult skill to learn and control. The following idea is an easy self-assessment marking method that can help Referees train themselves to remain calm in difficult situations.
Marks 0 to 10.
During a game, when a serious incident occurs (and they nearly always do in every game) - as you make your way towards the incident in readiness to deal with it, and before you have done anything else - say (or think) to yourself:
"Let's see how calm I can be when dealing with this incident."
When you have dealt with it, make a mental note by awarding yourself a mark out of 10, along the lines of either:
"Nahh I dealt with this too quickly, made a fool of myself and showed the players that I was unsure of what I was doing - marks out of 10 = 3".
Or
"I approached the players in a calm way, took my time, isolated the players, dealt with them politely, ensured that everyone knew (by the raising of my whistle) that play should not be restarted until I give my signal, and made my way calmly to my restart position etc. etc. marks out of 10 = 9"
Do this throughout the next few games and then tot up an average at the end of each game.
For example: How did I do overall in this game out of 10 = 6
You only need to do this for a few games and you will find yourself automatically starting dealing with conflict in a much calmer manner. Once you have honed your technique (so that dealing with conflict automatically becomes less stressful), you only need to resort to this method in future games, when you get a 'really serious incident' to deal with, and the old nerves are starting to jangle again!.
It works. It’s easy - and it will make you a much more confident Referee.
One last note - the trick is not to necessarily worry about how nervous you are, but to train yourself NOT TO SHOW IT to the players. In other words, the marks out of 10 that you award yourself, are more to do with how you control your body language and deal with the incident, despite how nervous you might feel inside.
Everyone gets nervous, it's a good reflex to have, as it keeps you on your toes - so don’t fight it.
Accept that you will get nervous sometimes!
Displaying a calm body language whilst dealing with problems is a difficult skill to learn and control. The following idea is an easy self-assessment marking method that can help Referees train themselves to remain calm in difficult situations.
Marks 0 to 10.
During a game, when a serious incident occurs (and they nearly always do in every game) - as you make your way towards the incident in readiness to deal with it, and before you have done anything else - say (or think) to yourself:
"Let's see how calm I can be when dealing with this incident."
When you have dealt with it, make a mental note by awarding yourself a mark out of 10, along the lines of either:
"Nahh I dealt with this too quickly, made a fool of myself and showed the players that I was unsure of what I was doing - marks out of 10 = 3".
Or
"I approached the players in a calm way, took my time, isolated the players, dealt with them politely, ensured that everyone knew (by the raising of my whistle) that play should not be restarted until I give my signal, and made my way calmly to my restart position etc. etc. marks out of 10 = 9"
Do this throughout the next few games and then tot up an average at the end of each game.
For example: How did I do overall in this game out of 10 = 6
You only need to do this for a few games and you will find yourself automatically starting dealing with conflict in a much calmer manner. Once you have honed your technique (so that dealing with conflict automatically becomes less stressful), you only need to resort to this method in future games, when you get a 'really serious incident' to deal with, and the old nerves are starting to jangle again!.
It works. It’s easy - and it will make you a much more confident Referee.
One last note - the trick is not to necessarily worry about how nervous you are, but to train yourself NOT TO SHOW IT to the players. In other words, the marks out of 10 that you award yourself, are more to do with how you control your body language and deal with the incident, despite how nervous you might feel inside.
Everyone gets nervous, it's a good reflex to have, as it keeps you on your toes - so don’t fight it.
Accept that you will get nervous sometimes!