Quote:
Originally posted by Hawks Coach
Quote:
Originally posted by rainmaker
Hawks Coach, as an astute observer of the youth basketball scene, from a variety of angles, what kind of wording or description could we use that would help narrow this down a little??
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It clearly is not a question of guidance to coaches and players, but rather one of consistent rule enforcement.
If you maintain a consistent down and sideways motion with the hand (and the ball under the hand), extended contact with the ball is perfectly legal. When you get that horizontal movement of the ball with nothing downwards, you should have a palm.
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I agree with everything you say, especially the part about consistency. The only consideration I would add is that some players CAN hold the ball with their hand completely on top, or squeeze the ball between the hand and the wrist. This is the play that refs are aiming at when they use length of contact as a definition. I don't think it takes a lot of effort to learn to recognize the differences between these various legal and illegal moves. And this kind of palming is never an issue at levels where the hands are too small to pull it off. But I think more consistent enforcement will happen when the wording is better in the rule book, especially in describing the POE.