Discussion Points
- Handling Bad Calls with Composure: When emotions run high, your response sets the tone. Handling bad calls starts with your body language and tone. Teach your team emotional control by modeling it yourself during heated moments.
- Teaching Players the Mental Side: Bad calls can shake young athletes’ confidence. Use these moments to coach mental toughness. Help players focus on the next play, not the last whistle, and show them how handling bad calls builds character.
- Turning Bad Calls Into Tactical Opportunities: Don’t just react—adapt. Handling bad calls means making smart defensive shifts, using timeouts to reset, and managing rotations to protect key players from foul trouble. Strategy is your best response.
Did You Know?
Basketball officials make up to 50 calls in a game, and research shows about 15% of those might be inaccurate. That means 7 to 8 calls each game could be flat-out wrong—or at least questionable. That’s why handling bad calls isn’t optional—it’s essential.
Imagine this…
It’s mid-second quarter. Your team already has 7 fouls. The other team has just 2. Your best defender just picked up their third foul on a questionable call. The crowd is getting loud. Your assistant coach is boiling. You’re asking yourself, “How are we getting punished for playing solid D?”
This is the moment that defines your team. Handling bad calls isn’t just about getting through it—it’s about staying in control when everything feels out of control.
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A Game Plan For Handling Bad Calls
A few nights ago, I watched a college game between Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga. I couldn’t help but notice the calls: they were uneven. Saint Mary’s played disciplined basketball, but the whistle kept going against them. The energy shifted. Their body language dipped. They were playing the same game—but they had to play it under different rules.
That game reminded me of so many youth games I’ve coached—games where the officiating wasn’t malicious, but it was inconsistent. And that inconsistency became the X-factor. It’s in those games that handling bad calls becomes more than a coaching skill—it becomes a leadership opportunity.
How to Apply This
Let me walk you through the exact steps I use for handling bad calls before, during, and after games.
1. Start with Composure
It all starts with you. When I get frustrated with a call (and believe me, I do), I remind myself: if I lose control, my players will too. Handling bad calls begins with modeling calm and control. I take a breath, lower my voice, and focus on what’s next—not what just happened.
You are the emotional thermostat for your team. Stay cool, and your team stays steady.
2. Talk to Officials, Don’t Confront Them
I’ve learned this the hard way. Yelling at refs doesn’t work. But respectful, calm questions sometimes do. I’ll ask, “Can you help me understand that call?” or “What did you see there?”
Sometimes that moment of dialogue causes a ref to take a second look at your players’ body control or defensive technique. Other times, it at least keeps the conversation open. Either way, respectful communication is a key part of handling bad calls.
3. Teach Players to Adapt
This is crucial. If the refs are calling tight hand-checks, teach your players to give space. If contact is being allowed, let them know they can get more physical. Handling bad calls on the floor starts with awareness.
I often ask my players during timeouts, “What are the refs calling?” or “How are they calling contact?” This helps them learn to adjust their own game instead of complaining or freezing up.
4. Make Smart In-Game Adjustments
If you’re getting hammered with fouls, it’s time to rethink your game plan. Here’s what I typically do:
- Switch to a zone defense to reduce aggressive on-ball contact.
- Pull back on full-court pressure to avoid reach-in fouls.
- Use timeouts to regroup and give emotional resets.
- Play more bench players to spread fouls across the roster.
- Change your offensive pace to draw contact or get to the line yourself.
Handling bad calls means thinking on your feet. Adjustments like these show your team you’re not panicking—you’re problem-solving.
5. Simulate Bad Calls in Practice
This is one of the best things I’ve started doing. In scrimmages, I’ll randomly call a phantom foul or turnover. Players will complain. That’s the point.
Then I teach them how to respond.
We reset, refocus, and keep playing. These “controlled frustrations” help players build emotional discipline. Handling bad calls is something you can rehearse, not just react to.
6. Film Study: Spot Trends in Officiating
After games, I don’t just watch our rotations or offensive sets—I watch the officiating too. I look at:
- How physical the refs allowed the game to get.
- What kind of contact drew quick whistles.
- Whether they called the same things on both ends.
When you see trends, you can prepare your team for similar situations. Film becomes a coaching tool not just for skill development but also for handling bad calls more intelligently.
7. Control the Post-Game Narrative
This is the final, and maybe most important, part of handling bad calls. After a tough game, I always reframe the conversation with my team:
- “We can’t control the refs, but we can control our reactions.”
- “We stayed composed and gave ourselves a chance.”
- “This is going to make us tougher for the next one.”
If players leave the gym blaming refs, we’ve lost a growth opportunity. But if they leave feeling stronger for how they handled adversity, we’ve done our job.
8. Handling Bad Calls as a Culture
In my program, we make handling bad calls part of our identity. We don’t whine. We don’t lose our heads. We adapt. That’s who we are.
I talk about it in pre-season meetings. I reinforce it during games. I praise it in post-game reviews. Handling bad calls becomes a character trait, not a reaction.
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Wrap Up
You will have games with bad officiating. It’s inevitable. But how you prepare your team, how you respond as a coach, and how you teach emotional resilience—that’s the difference-maker.
Handling bad calls is about control: controlling yourself, your bench, your strategy, and your culture. When you master that, foul trouble doesn’t mean game over. It means game on—with a new plan.
Give the full podcast a listen where I break down these ideas even further.
Let’s change the game together!
FAQs
Q: How should I communicate with referees when I feel the foul calls are uneven?
A: Use questions to communicate without being confrontational. Ask officials what they saw or what adjustments your team can make to prevent fouls. This approach helps maintain a respectful dialogue without escalating tensions.
Q: How can my team adjust to lopsided foul calls during a game?
A: Encourage your players to adapt to the officiating style. If the game is being called tightly, instruct them to play less aggressively. Conversely, if physicality is allowed, guide them to increase defensive pressure and take advantage of the situation.
Q: What defensive adjustments can I make when foul calls are uneven?
A: Consider switching to defensive strategies that align with how the game is being officiated. For instance, implement a pack line zone or reduce full-court pressure if fouls are being called aggressively. Conversely, intensify pressure if fouls are not being called.
Q: What should I say to my players when they get called for fouls despite following coaching instructions?
A: Reinforce that officiating can vary from game to game. Encourage them to stay focused, keep composure, and adjust their style of play based on the whistle. Reviewing film can also help them understand what adjustments need to be made.
Q: How can I remain objective and supportive when discussing officials with my team?
A: Frame officiating as part of the game that requires strategic adaptation. Teach your players to control what they can—like their reactions and in-game adjustments—while understanding that not every call will align with their expectations.
