My foul recognition seems to be slipping. I'm getting a lot more complaints about non-calls than I usually do, and for a lot of these, I've not deemed something trifling--I just didn't see any foul. So in the event that anyone has any ideas that I've not heard before, I thought I'd start this thread. Thanks in advance.
I wouldn't ignore the players entirely, but I guess that opinion varies. Do you have the opportunity to see yourself on video for any of your games? I had a series of postseason NCAA matches last year where I got an unusual amount of feedback from the players on foul selection. At first glance, I figured it was just the higher stakes causing the players to try and get an edge. But it was from both teams so I figured I would look into. Sure enough, video confirmed for me that I wasn't calling my usual fouls. What to do? For me, I was getting burned out. A good break and some review of some matches helped me reset. For you, I say you're already moving in the right direction if you realize something is wrong. Watch video if you can. Take a short break from games. Change the pace up by doing a game somewhere where you have to think more, so maybe a league you're unfamiliar with. It sounds like this is more mental than anything since "my foul selection is slipping" indicates to me you had it at one point.
Is the level of play you are officiating at higher/lower than you're used to? I'm personally in a weird transition state right now (or I am just too loyal to my first assignors), where I can get a 1st Divison Men's match one day, followed by a U-10 Girls game the next, and I find that mentally switching between the man management required of 9 year old girls and the baby-sitting required of 23 year old men often times leads to what I feel are foul recognition issues. I've found the trick is to try and treat each match as if it is it's own little universe, and while I may know players/coaches/the field, I can't let any of my "knowledge" affect how I'm going to call that game, and let the symphony that is the match sort of tune itself. Once that happens in the first few minutes of the game, I just try to keep pace with what the players seem to want and keep the beat within a few BPM of that baseline.* *I'm not a musician, but just made a musical metaphor, and hope I didn't butcher it completely. If it's not a transition issue, I might recommend getting your eyes checked ;-)
If you are just plain missing them, I'd say it was burn-out combined with positioning. I went through a period like that 2 years ago, and decided it was partly my glasses. Don't tell anyone, but I was using my progressive lenses (no-line trifocals). I think the new ones helped, but so did the end of the season.
I seem to be getting the fouls ok, but I appear to be having an isssue with deliberate handling calls. It's not that the players are asking for the call when there was actual hand/ball contact and I'm just saying, "NO! It's not deliberate." It's the fact that I don't seem to be seeing a lot of the handling at all, whether deliberate or not. I've tried to concentrate on it more, but it's something that happens so instantly and there is no replay, so it's hard to judge whether it actually might have happened or whether the players just thought they saw a handling that wasn't. I try to at least consider what the players are saying, even though I know some will try to game us to gain an advantage.
My humble opinion: in the pantheon of important calls to make in order to be a good referee, I would put marginal contact with hands and arms is pretty darn low . . . as some have said, if you never call deliberate handling, you'll get most of the calls right . . .