Tip Me Over And Pour Me Out ...

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

9-2-5: The thrower must not carry the ball onto the court.

4-35-1-a: The location of a player or non-player is determined by where the person is touching the floor as far as being: Inbounds or out-of-bounds.

7-1-1: A player is out of bounds when he/she touches the floor, or any object other than a player/person, on or outside a boundary

The problem here is that “carry the ball onto the court” is not defined by the NFHS.

According to the note following 4-42-6, the thrower must only keep one foot on or over the designated throw-in spot until the ball is released.

Your two citations shed no light on exactly what constitutes this violation. A player who has one foot inbounds and one foot out of bounds is located out of bounds per 4-35, so that isn’t helpful. Similarly, 7-1-1 is of no use if the thrower is in contact with the out of bounds area of the court.

I believe that the NFHS rules pertaining to leaving a designated spot and carrying the ball onto the court should be defined clearly in the rules book, not just interpreted in the case book.

A play for you: Thrower A1 has the ball in his hands. He loses his balance and falls forward, but is able to keep both of his feet out of bounds and within the designated throw-in spot. As he bends forward he touches the ball to the inbounds area of the court while still holding it and pushes himself back upright. He never releases the ball. Is this a throw-in violation for carrying the ball onto the court?