Confession: Toughest call....(4 Principles)

[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Rick82358
Torso to torso contact is one of the things you look for to make a charging call. If the contact were to the torso to the defenders arms they were probably sticking out and not in the vertical plane so it would be a block (unless put up to absorb contact). If the contact were in the torso to legs of the defender I can't imagine that one. The principle is that for the contact to be straight on the contact has to be torso to torso to be a charge. That does include the shoulders of the offensive player.

You missed JR's point. He isn't debating that torso-to-torso contact is one indicator of a charge. For two players who are running on the floor it is a very good one. However, JRs is stating that in this particular situation involving an airborne player, torso-to-torso does not mean very much. It certainly is not the definitive criterion for getting the call correct. What does matter is whether or not the defender was in his spot on the floor BEFORE the airborne player left his feet.

While torso-to-torso contact on this play would indicate that the defender probably was in proper position in time, it isn't conclusive. Tomegun merely told the OP not to worry too much about it, if the case was that the defender took it in the chest, since the OP wasn't sure that the player really was there prior to the opponent leaving his feet. If you aren't 100% sure then you need to use some clues, right?

For the record, the play in question could rightly be a blocking foul even though the defender takes the contact right square in the middle of his chest. How? He moved into that position AFTER the opponent jumped.