Backcourt

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by assignmentmaker
I think this is an admirably concise expression of the requirements of 9-9, with one exception that I raise only because I hope NevadaRef, if he agrees, and will put it on his list for the Rules Committee.

Say the ball is being passed among teammates (A1 & A2) in the frontcourt and is batted in the air into the airspace over the backcourt, where A3, standing in the backcourt, catches it. At the instant A3 catches it, the ball has front court status; then, simultaneously in a rules sense, it attains backcourt status.

THe ball was batted by whom?

If by B1, then it's not a violation (I assume that's what you meant). IF by Ax, then it is a violaiton (duh!).

IMO, the confusion over this rule comes because too many officials use the axiom "A BC violation is the same as an OOB violation, except the ball must be touched by A".

On an OOB violation, a player who stands OOB and catches / touches a ball "causes the ball to go OOB" (or whatever the specific wording is). That same phrase DOES NOT exist in any of the BC discussions. So, when A3 catches the ball in the BC, A23 DID NOT cause the ball to go to the BC -- whoever last touched the ball before A3 caused it to go BC.