Advantage v Hindering Movement

[Kajun Ref N Texas]

I have been on the floor now for one year after a 20 year break.

20 years ago, the definition of a personal foul was something like, "contact whereby the player initiating contact gained an ADVANTAGE over an oponent because of the contact.

Today (4-19-1), the definition is, "illegal contact...which hinders an opponent from performing normal defensive and offensive movements."

Quite frankly, I liked the old definition better.

Can someone enlighten me on the history of this change and whether you still hold to the Advantage theory?

[M&M Guy]

Is this kind of like the difference between "reffing the defense" vs. "reffing the matchup"?

I think it's just another way of stating the same philosophy. Advantage/disadvantage is still used in determining a foul. Perhaps they thought the language needed updating a little by adding the term "illegal contact". Perhaps some of the older er, I mean more experienced people have a direct knowledge of the history of that rule. But I've been around long enough to know the basic philosophy hasn't really changed.