[ktg2010]

This question was on our association tournament exam...

A3 releases the ball on a shot attempt. Which of the following would cause the ball to become dead immediately (while the try is still in flight)?

ANS: A1 is whistled for excessively swinging his/her elbows.

I delved into the rules on this one and got confused so I am looking for some clarity.

Article 9-13 specifies the penalty for this "The ball is dead when the penalty occurs..."; however it also says to "See 6-7-9 Exception d".
Article 6-7 defines when a ball becomes dead, and the 6-7-9 Exception is to specify when this does NOT apply. 6-7-9 Exception d states "Article 9 as in 9-3-3 or 9-13-1, occurs by an opponent"

So here's how I read this...
The ball is dead as defined by 6-7 unless a try is in flight and the 6-7-9 exceptions apply. In the case of 9-13-1, it would NOT become dead immediately on a try in flight, if the DEFENSE were swinging his/her elbows excessively, but it would if the OFFENSE was. Is that correct?

Other offenses by team A could occur and the ball would not be blown dead in this case, so there must be some overriding reason why NFHS thinks that team A swinging elbows excessively merits an immediate dead ball even if it is in the air. I presume that is because of potential danger...but then I ask myself, "why is there less danger if team B does it?". I supposed that if we blew the dead ball when B did it, they could stop any try by swinging elbows, but then imo that is what technicals would be for.