4.2 Division of responsibilities on the playing court
Modern officiating requires the two (2) officials to work in cooperation with each other,
one (1) official taking responsibility for on-the-ball and the other for off-the-ball
coverage.
In order to achieve proper coverage, the two (2) officials should seek to obtain the best
possible position to judge the play, using the system of mechanics contained in this
manual as a guideline.
To simplify this, each half of the playing court has been divided into rectangles,
numbered 1 to 6 (Diagram 29).
In the first instance, we will focus on the position of the trail official in relation to the
ball, indicating the occasions when he has primary responsibility for on and off-the-ball
coverage, as well as providing an insight into certain officiating techniques.
This will be followed by an analysis of the positioning of the lead official and his
responsibilities.
The final section will review the work of the two (2) officials and their respective
coverage and duties.