Held Ball or Travel?
 

Girl's middle school game. A1 goes up for a jump shot. While both A1's feet are in the air B1 swipes at the ball and connects with a glancing hit on the ball. The ball is not dislodged from A1's grasp. In fact, the position of the ball in A1's hands is not really affected by the hit. A1 does not release the ball and lands back on the floor on both feet. In my opinion, B1's hit "caused" A1 to not release the ball but did not "prevent" A1 from releasing the ball. I call a travel. Coach is in my ear, saying "but B1 hit the ball." I say, that is true but that B1's contact on the ball was not sufficient to prevent A1 from releasing.

Did I make the right call?

Thanks.

sounds like a travel. The standard is did the contact prevent the offensive player from releasing the ball for a pass/shot.

Travel as described.

99% of the time, this is a held ball.

You might have had the 1% play.

Maybe.

If in doubt, it's a held ball.

I find that distinction very hard to visualize. The picture I get is a held ball, but as Bob says this could be the very rare play that comes out another way.

The distinction is whether A1 has the option to release it or not and chooses not to verses the ball being pinned by B1 so that A1 can't release it even if desired. A mere touch of the ball doesn't necessarily pin the ball.

If the player is forced to chuck it up disadvantaged greatly by the hand on the ball, I'd expect an official to call a held ball.

This is not a place I'm picking nits or showing everyone how smart I am.

Agree, when the ball is pinned between the defender's hand and the shooters. But merely having a defender in the way that brushes the ball is not what is intended....that is good defense.

From The List ...
 

When an airborne player keeps control of an attempted shot that is blocked, is unable to release the ball, and returns to the floor with it, that player has not traveled; it is a held ball. If, in this situation, the shooter loses control of the ball because of the block, then this is simply a blocked shot, and play continues. If, in this situation, the defender simply touches the ball, and the airborne shooter returns to the floor holding the ball, it’s a traveling violation. When an airborne player tries for goal, sees that the try will be blocked, purposely drops the ball, and touches the ball after it hits the floor, that player has traveled by starting a dribble with the pivot foot off the floor

I understand the distinction, but the post said that it caused the player not to release -- I have trouble picturing the contact causing the ball not to b released without preventing it from being released within the meaning of the rule.

A player can "cause" an opponent to not release a shot without ever touching the ball (and not fouling either). "Cause" is too ambiguous to know what actually happened.

Of course. But irrelevant: the OP said it was the contact on the ball that caused the player not to release. I have trouble picturing a real world play in which that cause exists without also being prevention. But I agree it is impossible to tell without seeing the play. I *suspect* the OP was looking for too much to reach "prevent," but I can do no more than suspect.

The defender can touch the ball such that the shooter thinks they can no longer easily "make" the shot but could easily shoot it anyway. The shooter chooses not to release the ball. That is causing it without preventing it.

I'm guessing that's a held ball 99% of the time as called by officials. Wouldn't argue with them either.

This is exactly what happened. In my opinion, the contact by B1 on the ball kind of took A1 out of their shooting rhythm. The contact kind of made A1 panic (this was a girl's middle school game) and she failed to release. In my opinion, A1 was not prevented from releasing by a "stuff" of the ball by B1.

I agree, that this is a tough call and a tough distinction - especially in a girl's middle school game. But I'm interested in how this would be called in, for example, a boy's varsity game.

I wouldn't argue with them since it is certainly a judgement as to whether it was prevented but i hope the officials are applying their judgement using the proper rule instead of an incorrect rule.

Case Book 4.44.3 SITUATION A: A1 jumps to try for goal. B1 also jumps and: (b) touches the ball but does not prevent A1 from releasing the ball; RULING: (b) the ball remains live.

The implication is that A1, subsequent to the touching of the ball by B1, did release the ball.

In (c) touches the ball and A1 returns to the floor holding the ball; RULING: in (c), a traveling violation.

Perhaps, we tend to overthink this play, by ignoring the implication in (b).

For Those That Want The Entire Context ...
 

I'm going to make the call that fits the situation and the game. I'm not looking to turn a held ball into a travel and I rarely look to make a call where the one bench thinks I'm an idiot and the other feels they got away with something.

Would I call a travel in a very specific situation? Yes. But 99% of the time a player gets a hand on a ball with an airborne player that returns to the floor with it, it's going to be a held ball. And I've never heard anyone argue otherwise......except on the Internet.

You've got good ears...:)

Agree....there is that 1% play, that happens once or twice a year.

It is not that unusual, particularly at lower levels, for a defender to be in the face of a shooter and not touch the ball at all, and the shooter returns to the floor holding the ball. With this in mind, it's certainly not hard to imagine that a brief touch which would not be a held ball can disconcert the shooter to return to the floor holding the ball.

Again, this was pretty much my play exactly. At the time, it really seemed to be a stretch to call a held ball on a relatively slight glancing hit of the ball by the defender. To call a held ball seems to me to be relying more on the response of the offensive player (was it strong or weak) and less on the action of the defense (was it a pin of the ball).

I don't work those levels much anymore, so I don't see this happening.

Although I had a double dribble in a varsity boys game that happened right in front of me that I didn't see cause I usually don't watch dribblers who are not contested.

I think that those saying this is a held ball 99% of the time are overlooking that the OP said girls middle school game and our applying that percentage estimate to varsity level games.

I havent worked a girls middle school game in a long time but I do coach my 8 year old daughters team and this sort of thing will happen.

As described in the OP and subsequent posts Im confident the travel violation was the right call here.