Starting count - at 0 or 1?

[bucky]

There was another thread involving an administering official's 5 second count for an inbound, ball being at the disposal, circular reasoning, etc.

One person, if I recall correctly, indicated that the visual start of the count determined that the ball was at the disposal of the inbounder. That got me thinking (uh oh!).

Who visually, by moving the arm, etc. starts at the number 0? Starts at 1? IOW, the ball may be at the disposal of an inbounder and the 5 second count begins. There is time between 0 and 1 second. So, if you visually signal your count by starting at 1, then the ball would be at the disposal of a player but no visual signal would have been given. If you visually signal the start of the count at 0, then indeed you would be indicating when it was at the disposal of the inbounder. Confused yet?

Example: When I administer, I say to myself when handing the ball to the inbounder (at his disposal), "0", with no mechanic or signal. My first arm movement is then at "1", my second arm movement at "2", and so forth for a total of 5 arm movements equaling 5 seconds.

Others I know hand the ball to the inbounder and immediately start their count with an initial arm movement representing the stating point or 0. Their 5 seconds expires when they have their 6th arm movement.

Clear as carbon dated mud-rock formations with fossil records?

(new year and already fine coming for too many words, sigh)