Travelling/sitting

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by DrPete

Rule 4.15.4.b: The dribble ends when: The dribbler palms/carries the ball by allowing it to come to rest in one or both hands.

Good point, but this doesn't define a violation, rather it defines one of several ways that a dribble ends.

Ball handlers allow the ball to come to rest in one or both hands (carrying/palming) dozens of times in a game without violating.

If said player ends his dribble by allowing the ball to come to rest in one or both hands (carrying/palming) and then moves his pivot foot in excess of legal limits, then that's a travel violation.

If said player ends his dribble by allowing the ball to come to rest in one or both hands (carrying/palming) and then dribbles again, then that's an illegal (double) dribble violation.

I still contend that there is no definition, description, or interpretation of a carrying/palming violation that is not already either a travel violation, or an illegal (double) dribble violation.

If the NFHS removed the carrying/palming signal from the book, it wouldn't be the end of the world, in all cases we could use either the travel signal, or the illegal (double) dribble signal, to communicate the specific violation.

That being said, I use the carrying/palming signal all the time. Like Supreme Court Justice Stewart, "I know it when I see it".

And apparently so do players, coaches, and fans. I never get a question like, "Was that a travel carrying/palming violation, or was that an illegal (double) dribble carrying/palming violation?".

I just find it odd that it's a violation signal without an actual defined violation.