Getting set to start the game. Sound the whistle, indicate directions, step in to toss the ball. Good toss, no whistle in mouth, non throwing hand stays low to gaurd, block, cover vital organs, players go up taps the ball and one of them comes down right on top of my shin and then foot. I look down and yes I had stepped in too far.
My standard practice is to toss and stand there until the ball and players move so that I don't back into a developing play.
This kid was 6'4" and at least 240 lbs. He doesn't go after the ball, just stands there with me asking if I was ok. Had to laugh alittle bit and advise him that Subway has low fat sandwiches. He is also laughing as he takes off.

Boy, can I relate to this.......

Scrimmage last weekend, opening tip I get drilled in the cheek with an elbow on the down swing. Lights did not go out for me but 30 seconds later on my first whistle I notice a pea in my Fox40! Cracked a crown and the piece goes into my whistle.

Game ends for me at halftime due to swelling and lightheaded feeling. Come to find out later at the hospital that I have a concussion, small fracture in the cheekbone, and about $500 dollars of dental work ahead of me. I think I would have preferred a kick to my 'vital organs'. Suffice to say I will let my partner handle the toss in the future.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Robmoz
[B]Boy, can I relate to this.......

Scrimmage last weekend, opening tip I get drilled in the cheek with an elbow on the down swing. Lights did not go out for me but 30 seconds later on my first whistle I notice a pea in my Fox40! Cracked a crown and the piece goes into my whistle.

Robmoz, did you have your whistle in during the jump?

No, never on the toss. I do try to keep my mouth closed so as not to bite my tongue in the event I get hit...learned that painful lesson about 8 years ago.

I've been kicked in the jimmy's, I've been landed on, but the worst was in a men's league with a couple of older big guys jumping. Not much spring, so one guy needed to wind up to get to the toss. My arm is coming down and he catches me right on the funny bone.

I had a burning sensation in my middle thru pinkie fingers for THREE DAYS. It felt like I was getting stabbed in the arm anytime I had to mark a 3 point attempt.

Jump ball in a freaking JV game many years ago. Training a new guy that I brought in from our football officials- a guy that I thought was a friend. Wore glasses at that time- this was before the days of contacts. Throw up the opening jump and- jumper #1 gets me with an elbow right on the glasses, breaks the eyepiece and shoves the broken part into my eyebrow-- which spins me into jumper #2 who now gets me with an elbow right in the nose- which now sends me to the deck. I'm lying on the floor with blood pouring out of my nose and from above my eye, both teams are heading down court to play, and whereinthehell is my partner? He's sitting on the damn floor, pointing at me and laughing his head off hysterically. He was laughing so hard that he couldn't blow his whistle. Bottom line? I find my whistle and blow it....partner is still laughing and pointing at me.....head into the dressing room to get a bandage above my eye and some cotton batton in my nose...put on my spare glasses and do 32 minutes. After the game, I went to the hospital where the final tally was a nose broken in 2 places and 6 stitches above the eye. Grrrrrr......

Been thinking about this and wanted your opinions. When I toss I seem to get hit every time by one of the jumpers during their upward motion and my downward motion. So, Instead of tossing the ball up, how bout tossing the ball up and away? HMMMMM Your thoughts?

Remember, I said it first, I have it in writing!

Ya know I'm just dying to know who....... but lah me (whatever that means, LOL) don't tell me; I don't really want to know.

It's very hard to control if you toss it away from you. The key is catching them off guard a bit with your toss, the times you are getting hit are probably them trying to time your toss or steal it.

I'll usually hit the whistle, step in and say, "One bounce and up," but I'm VERY deliberate in that bounce going into my toss. I'll usually get them rocking up anticipating the toss and I'll hold it an extra beat. It's step in...bounce.....toss.

I get hit a lot less, and my toss is better because I have my routine.

I've never been hit or even touched that I can remember, maybe you're getting to far in between the jumpers.

Wouldn't it be cool just 1 time to hit the whistle, fake the toss up and then throw the ball to the corner and watch em race for it?

I have always done the whistle, bounce, toss. I tried the shot put method and I think they are anticipating it more and I seem to be getting hit more. Going back to the whistle, toss, bounce.

Curious!

I realized that I drop my arm after the toss and it usually catches one of the players during their upward motion, could that be the problem?

Do you leave arm up after toss, or drop it too?

It's only happened on a few occasions, but I may giving an advantage to the other jumper.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Thump,
I tried that the other day. Got kicked instead. Might of been the coordinational capabilities of the players. The only thing I recall was that I felt awkward leaving my arm up there. I seemed like it was obstruction for the jumpers.

I was thinking that your toss would not be legal, but then I looked in the book. The ball must go "upward between the jumpers in a plane at right angles to the sidelines." Also, it must "be to a height greater than either of them can jump so that it will drop between them."

According to this the path of the toss is not required to be plumb. I guess the referee could stand outside the circle and toss the ball in a parabola within that plane which is perpendicular to the sidelines such that it drops between the jumpers.
Actually, the referee could even stand over on the sideline and toss if he could throw the ball accurately enough to have it drop between the two jumpers.

Who knew?

Another basketball oddity brought to you from Nevada.

That would be talent, might have a few tosses whistled back, but if you anyone can do this, have someone video it and post it here for all to see.

At a camp this summer we were actually taught this toss. We made the toss from just inside the circle, so still about 5-6 feet from the jumpers. I haven't tried it, but have gotten pretty consistent with the toss after some practice.

trend setter??
 

In the past I've had some difficulties with my toss. Used to do a two handed toss and it worked well until carpal tunnel surgery on one hand - seemed to disrupt the strength balance between my hands. So then I went to a one handed push. It didn't work well. It was my surgery hand and I ended up with a bunch of them recalled - thanks partner. Jumpers seemed to anticipate my toss and would tap it on the way up. Then I got my funny bone nailed one time - it only burned for a quarter...

So now I use a new method.
Standing slightly away from the jumpers, probably at least 3 feet from the very center, with my lead (right) foot forward, splitting the angle between the jumpers, I bounce the ball very firmly with two hands. I continue bouncing until I get what I feel is a nice straight bounce. Usually this takes at least two if not three bounces. On this last bounce, still with two hands, I guide the ball up on a parabola so it will drop between the jumpers. I'm watching the bounce motion, concentrating on where I want the ball to land (as if it wasn't tapped), and I don't look up at the flight of the ball until it is gone.

It has been working very well. Nice and straight between the jumpers. The jumpers don't anticipate the up motion so I'm able to get the ball up above them for a tap on the way down. And I haven't been hit or kicked!

It took a little work and practice to devise this method. But is sure beats getting clobbered or having your partner recall your toss. With the one handed deal, to start one of my games, I had a partner call back my toss twice. And rightly so, they were terrible tosses. Third toss was mediocre to acceptable - an ugly way to start a game. It was time to change methods. :D

[Edited by DownTownTonyBrown on Dec 9th, 2004 at 11:39 AM]