Hand Signals in Basketball

1. Hand Signals in
Basketball Officiating

2. OBSERVED!

3. OBSERVED!

4. Referee
• Referee- an official supervising the play. A
person who is in charge of a sports and watches
closely to ensure that the rules are followed.
• That is why basketball referees use hand signals
to indicate certain fouls or violations.
Understanding these hand signals can also help
spectators understand what’s going on during
the game.

5. Game Clock Signals
• These officiating basketball hand signals
are used to communicate between the
referee and the time keeper in order to
notify starting and stopping of the clock.

6. Start clock
• Beginning with one
hand raise above
head, the start of the
clock is indicated by
dropping the raised
hand directly toward
the floor.

7. Stop clock
•When the referee
wants to stop the
clock, he raises
one hand and
keeps it there.

8. Stop the clock for foul
•Clenched fist to
stop the clock for
foul signal.

9. Violation Signals
•A violation is breaking a rule as a
result, the other team is awarded
possession of the ball.

10. Travelling
• When the ball handler
takes too many steps
without dribbling the ball,
the referee will blow the
whistle and call travelling
violation. The traveling
signal is made by the
referee by making a rolling
or spinning motion with
both of his arms.

11. Three Second Violation
• A player shall not remain in the
opponent’s restricted area for more than
three consecutive seconds while his/her
team is in control of live ball in the front
court and game clock running. To indicate
that a player has committed a three
second violation by having three fingers
raised and the hand makes swiping motion
back and forth a the side.

12. Double or Illegal dribble
•When the ball handler dribbles with
both hands at the same time, that is
double dribble. The referee’s signal
for an illegal dribble is to do a
dribbling motion with both of his
hands.

13. Palming or carrying the ball
• Carrying happens when the ball handler
either palms the ball or tries to scoop
underneath it instead of dribbling
correctly. In order to signal a palming or
carrying violation, the referee will have
one hand at the side, flipped over from
palm up to palm down.

14. Foul Signals
1. Hand check- when a
defender limits an offensive
player with his hand, a hand
check call is made by the
official. The signal is an open
hand in the air while other hand
grabs the wrist.

15. Foul Signals
2. Blocking foul- is an attempt
by an offensive player to stop a
defender from guarding the ball
carrier. To make the blocking
call, the official will put both of
his hands on his hips.

16. Foul Signal
3. Pushing Foul- occurs when a
defender pushes an offensive
player or bumps into the body
of an offensive player. To signal
a pushing foul, the official will
have both hands extended
straight in front of him, with his
palms facing outward.

17. Foul Signals
4. Charging- when the ball
handler runs over a defender
who has set his feet and has
established position, the
referee will call a charging foul.
To make a charging foul call, the
referee will this one hand on
the back of his head and the
other pointing in the opposite
direction of the play.

18. Foul Signals
5. Intentional foul- it involves
excessive or violent contact that
could injure the fouled player.
To make the intentional foul
signal, the referee raises both
arms over his head and touches
his wrists together.

19. Foul Signals
6. Technical foul- a violation of
certain roles of the game not
usually involving physical
contact, but often involving
unsportman like actions. To
signal a technical foul, the
referee simply makes a T with
his hands.

20. Foul Signals
7. Double foul- If the
two players have
committed a foul at
the same time, the
referee will put both
hands, in fists,
extended out towards
the sides.

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