Being hyper-aware of arms above shoulders

“Do you often lift your hand higher than your shoulder to feel where someone is?”

Just a note after having a convos with some advanced referees.

My initial analysis of the video above was:

DFK for red. Blue's hand/arm did make contact with red's neck/face but he was looking up at the flight of the ball and seemed to just be using his hand to feel out the defender. Careless, I think, so no card.

But others reminded me of what we’re looking for when it comes to a reckless challenge:

Reckless is when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent and must be cautioned

The question that drove this home for me was:

Do you often lift your hand higher than your shoulder to feel where someone is?

The answer is no. You feel somebody out by putting a hand out at hip, chest or maybe shoulder height. Having your hand up and out above the shoulder is putting it in a reckless position.

Takeaway: contact with the head should always be taken more seriously than contact with other parts of the body. This should have been a cautioned challenge and it’s something I’ll keep an eye out for moving forward.

Know a soccer ref? Feel free to share this with them 💙