[JetMetFan]

Play 1: Player A2 has her elbows extended with her hands held near her chest (Rule 4-36.6.b) and her elbows are stationary (not moving) when she sets an illegal screen. Defender B1 hits her head on A1’s stationary elbow as she gets caught on the illegal screen. A foul is charged to A2 for her illegal screen. Can this foul be reviewed to see if the elbow contact was above or below the shoulders? What is the penalty for this foul?

Ruling 1: This foul can NOT be reviewed because the elbow contact above the shoulders was not a result of a moving/swinging elbow. This is a team control foul and the penalty is no free throws with the ball being awarded to the offended team at a spot nearest to where the foul occurred. The intent of penalizing illegal elbow contact with a flagrant 1 personal foul and the review of such contact has always been for a moving/swinging elbow (Rule 4-29.2.c.6) and not for a player who runs into a stationary elbow.

Comment: We must know the intent of the rule to be able to understand why it is the rule and how to enforce it properly. The intent of assessing a flagrant 1 personal foul for illegal elbow contact above the shoulders of an opponent was to penalize players who swing their elbows and make illegal contact above the shoulders of an opponet that was not severe enough to be considered a flagrant 2 personal foul. This rule was intended to more severly penalize this type of illegal contact because a moving/swinging elbow contacting the head of an opponent posed a danger to the player being hit by it. Because of the harsher penalty, players are discouraged from swinging the elbow near an opponent’s head. This is a very different play than a player running into an elbow that is not moving. Not all fouls that involve elbow contact above the shoulders are flagrant 1 personal fouls. The stationary elbow of an illegal screener is a good example of a foul that involves contact with an elbow that is not moving and thus is a team control foul.