Swinging arms question again :

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

I'm apparently in the minority, but I liked the guidelines for elbow contact. I would have liked to see them written into both the NCAA and NFHS rules. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask players not to create contact with their elbows.

Really?

Play 1: A1 goes up for a rebound. B1, who was 6 inches shorter, runs in and under A1 for the same rebound while A1 was in the air. A1's elbow comes down on B1's head.

Play 2: A1, running down the court with their arms "swinging" in a normal running motion. B1 lunges at A1. As A1 goes by B1, A1's elbow clips B1's face.

I saw both of those called IF's more than once in big D1 games, even after video review. The reason was that that A1's elbows were "moving" and made contact to the head's of the opponents. That was what those guidelines lead to and neither of them made any sense.

A moving elbow to the head is just not enough to justify an IF. Players move and their elbows move with them. It is unreasonable for there to be no contact with the head. It is reasonable to expect there to be no excessive contact with the elbows.