What is your mindset at the start of a game? Do you tend to referee cautiously at the beginning of a fixture or come out of the blocks, very much on the whistle?
When you try to ease into a game, two things generally happen:
- You find yourself without complete match control. A slow start is due to a cautious mindset.
When you officiate cautiously, you will find yourself gradually losing your ability to manage the game, panicking, and making mistakes.
Many referees fail to regain their composure after a slow start and struggle to recover from an early mistake over a key match incident.
- You set the tone for your officiating style and have difficulty turning the tide.
A slow start often translates into a slow end to a game. It isn’t easy to go from 0 to 100 in seconds. It’s hard to overcome a lack of momentum.
You can’t depend on luck to determine your intensity at the start of a fixture. If you rely on luck, you will usually feel emotionally flat or mentally scattered and may not be able to step out from that emotional state.
The goal is to set the tone early in a game, that is, in the warm-up.
If you want to referee on the front foot at the start of a fixture, then you need to mentally prepare to be firing on all cylinders during the warm-up.
If you want to officiate with confidence, then you need to activate a confident mindset during the warm-up. Pay attention to your matchday mindset during your warm-up so you can perform at your peak from the first blow of the whistle.
When you are energised in warm-up and open yourself up to your matchday mindset, you mentally and physically fuel your performance.
You have momentum as the game begins, and you will have the mental sharpness required to manage the game from minute 1.
The American Football Perspective
Early in the 2022 American National Football League season, two-time Pro Bowler Demarcus Lawrence helped the Dallas Cowboys defence overwhelm New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in the Cowboys’ 23-16 victory.
With Lawrence’s leadership, the Cowboys sacked Jones five times, recorded 12 QB pressures, and pressured Jones on 40.5% of his dropbacks.
After the game, Lawrence discussed his mindset heading into the game:
“The energy was up, my body felt good today, so I attacked it.”
The two key words are “energy” and “attack.” Lawrence’s energy was high due to his preparation during the warm-up.
Lawrence prepared his body and mind to ruthlessly seek out his objectives as soon as the game started. The word “attack” reminded Lawrence to play aggressively from the game’s first snap.
To referee at your peak, you need to decide how you want to officiate, how you will prepare to referee the game, and how to fuel your mindset before you blow the first whistle.
Before your warm-up, identify one word that summarises how you want to perform, such as “poised,” “confident,” or “decisive.”
Use this cue word during your warm-up to remind yourself of the mindset you want to take into your game.
Be sure to raise your intensity to an optimal level that will help you focus to the best of your ability and start strongly!
At The Third Team I work individually and in collaboration with different professionals where I have developed workshops and 1-2-1 sessions associated with Resilience and Mental Toughness Development to help referees. The workshops and 1-2-1 sessions are interactive, where referees are encouraged to open up and share their experiences to help themselves and each other.
Feel free to contact me if you’d like to know more about my workshops or 1-2-1 sessions and how I could help you or your officials.
Best Wishes,
Nathan Sherratt
Referee Educator & Managing Director of The Third Team
Nathan Sherratt
Nathan Sherratt, Referee Educator, Resilience Trainer and Managing Director of The Third Team. A Mental Toughness Practitioner based in County Durham, North East England.