Running the 30-Second Shot Clock

When running the shot clock, there are a number of things to remember:
1) The shot clock will always reset on a shot on goal.
2) The shot clock, as of this season, will run, even for a team that is short-handed, and under no circumstances will the shot clock not run. This means you no longer need to be concerned with who is short, when will it become even-strength, or anything like this.
3) Unless the ball is lodged in a player's equipment, or a team has called a time-out, the shot clock will always be reset when play restarts. In the two instances mentioned above, the shot clock will stay at the same place it was at prior to play being stopped.

There are usually two types of 30-second shot clocks:

1) Small, portable hand-held control
Here, the grey button will be used to reset the shot clock to 30, and the red button can be used to stop the shot clock at any time. A good trick to remember is to reset the clock to 30 and stop the shot clock in the event that there was a stoppage in play so you can restart immediately when play is blown in. As well, when play is stopped, and the clock is not to be reset, remember to only press the red button to restart the clock counting down, instead of accidentally pressing the grey button and resetting the clock to 30 seconds.

Another good thing to remember is that when resetting the clock, aim the hand-held control towards the center of the floor. This is because if you aim the control at only one clock, there is a good chance that only one clock will reset, and you will suddenly have two clocks running at different times. Aiming the control at the center of the floor will reduce the chances of this happening.

2) Large console, sometimes portable
Here, there is usually the following:
a. A place where you can set the shot clock time, which will always be at 30 seconds
b. A switch you flick to start and stop the shot clock from running
c. A button you press to reset the shot clock

Here, you do not need to worry about pointing in any direction, because the console is connected directly to the shot clock displays. In some cases, you can hold the shot clock at 30 seconds by keeping your hand on the reset button, but this is not always the case.

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