Verbal Flag Down Signal

[Phantanimal]

Does the official always have to say "flag-down" or is the slow whistle situation the only time that verbal signal occurs?

[LaxRef]

Does the official always have to say "flag-down" or is the slow whistle situation the only time that verbal signal occurs?

Flag down = slow whistle. I think you might be confusing slow whistle with play on.

But, by rule, we have to yell "flag down." It's not a mechanic.

If a defending player commits a foul against an attacking player and an attacking player has possession of the ball, the official must drop a signal flag, make the verbal signal “flag-down” and withhold his whistle until:

[Phantanimal]

I understand play on... I just wanted someone to clarify that the slow-whistle is the only situation where the official says flag-down.

[LaxRef]

I understand play on... I just wanted someone to clarify that the slow-whistle is the only situation where the official says flag-down.

Sorry, I didn't see exactly what you are getting at. No, if there's a dead-ball foul, say, or a loose-ball personal, both of which require an immediate whistle, you do not have to yell "flag down," because you're too busy blowing your whistle.

However, there are times when an offensive player commits a personal away from the ball, which technically requires an immediate whistle, but you throw the flag, yell flag down, and then blow the whistle because you realize that it was an offensive foul instead of a defensive foul. This is because you condition yourself not to make the (uncorrectable) mistake of blowing the whistle when you shouldn't in favor of sometimes making the correctable mistake of not blowing it when you should for a few seconds. At least, that's how I look at it.