As I was watching a youth game the other day there was a lot of banter in the stands about "3 seconds". I realized as I sat there that I do not understand the finer points of a 3 second violation. What is required for the violation to occur?

This call is probably the most varied from location to location, and from level to level.

The rule is that a player on the team with team control of the ball in the frontcourt may be in the free throw lane up to 3 seconds. The lane includes the free throw area, EXCEPT for the half-circle at the top where the ft shooter stands.

A player who is in the lane less than three seconds and then receives the ball and is jockeying for a shot is allowed some leeway, but she'll get the whistle if she passes the ball out. Furthermore, the player who thus receives the ball may get leeway, but her teammate also in the lane does not.

Also, there used to be a rule that the count was suspended if there was an interrupted dribble but that rule was changed a year or two ago.

Lastly, if a player from the team with control is trying to clear the lane, but there's a defender blocking her way, the call should not be made, unless she changes her mind, and uses her position in the key for an advantage.

Note that the ball must be in team control, and must have frontcourt status. So the entire time that the ball is coming up court from under the opponent's basket and is in the backcourt, the count doesn't start. Also, once a shot leaves the hand, there's no team control, so there can be no 3 seconds. Most parents get confused on this point. If there's a shot, miss, rebound, shot, miss, rebound, etc, all ten players can be in the lane for as long as it takes for the ball to either go into the basket or someone to get team control again.

In practice, at the varsity and jv level of high school ball, a lot of refs don't call it until there's a really blatant advantage. So if someone's just standing there, picking her nose, with one foot in the lane, and one out, it won't be called, until all of a sudden she receives a pass (open shot) or is used as a screen for a teammate to get an open shot.

Also, a lot of refs won't call a 3 second call on someone's who's at the top of the lane and has an inch or two of shoe in the "restricted area", but isn't playing into the lane.

I hope this helps.

4,5 & 6 seconds yes, but I haven't called "3 seconds" in years! :P

I usually judge the knowledge of the fans by the number of times they yell "3 seconds". If they yell it all the time it means it is the only rule they think they know.

Two Saturdays ago, I called "nine seconds" in a rec game. The team had three players in the lane for more than three seconds each.

Had a really obnoxious fan (think it was the same fan) yell for 3-seconds twice during a GV game on Friday. Only problem was, the ball was still in the back court on both occassions.

Had a really obnoxious fan (I think he took his cue from the coach) who would yell 3 seconds even when his own team had the ball. WTH?

How bout this one....

Had a fan yell "5 seconds" as the ball was being advanced into the frontcourt. Yelled it for most of the game. Still don't know if he was actually 'at' our game or not.

:D

Doesn't it make you want to take the ball and put it where the sun doesn't shine? Then I bet they will realize that three seconds is an ETERNITY!!!!

The other thing I notice, is that coaches will inform you of 3 second violations all the time in the first half, but evidently the players clean it up in the second half, cause I never hear from a coach about it again.

If I have a coach that is on me for a 3-second violation, I usually tell him I'm not seeing it and then go down to the other end an ding his player for three seconds.

Watching too much NBA? ;)

I had a coach, in an 8th grade girls game, demand a 3 sec. call on an inbound play!!! I told him "the ball wasn't even in play for 3 seconds." He just looked confused at that point :)

In my years of officiating, the fans who scream for a 3 second violation are 100% ignorant of how and when the violation actually ocurs. The violation IMO is purely an ADVANTAGE/DISADVANTAGE call.

From the OfficialForum.com archives (originally aired 4/2/02):

If your 3-second count is a little long, don't worry about it. You should count 3-seconds like this:

One.

Man, am I hungry. I could go for a nice slice right now. Or maybe Slider will send me a Krispy Kreme. Mmmmmmm. Doughnuts. Man, that Homer Simpson cracks me up. I wonder what it's really like to work in a nuclear power plant. . .

Two.

Is that cheerleader looking at me? I think she's looking at me!! Nope. Darn, she's looking at the point guard camped in the lane. Camped in the lane? Oh, yeah. . . Where was I?

Two-and-a-half.

"Blue. Clear the lane!"

Yawn. Scratch. Adjust pants.

"Blue! Get outta there!"

WWMTDSD? (What would Mark T. DeNucci, Sr do?)

Doggone it!!

Three!! TWEET!

Hey, Chuck, how'd you find that? Is the search feature working again?! :D

Lucky hit on google.

Actually, threeseconds has become a popular name for both boys and girls, and the fans are just yelling their child's name.

I call 3 seconds almost every game. In the youth developmental leagues the house rules are 5 seconds in the lane.

I'm still pondering this one. I believe that 3 seconds is a useful tool, but should be applied judiciously. In camp this last summer I had a 3 seconds call when the kid had been there for 5+ seconds, but didn't blow the whistle until an entry pass was headed his way (i.e., until he had gained an obvious advantage by being there). The clinician chastised the call because the pass was on the way there when I made it. He would prefer to see the call made before the offender gets involved in any action, or not at all.

What are your thoughts on this?

Excellent!

Hmmm...I'm kind of on your side on this one. It makes it obvious that this player has now gained the advantage by being in there too long, because they are ready to accept that pass. I would be interested in hearing that clinician's reasoning behind his statement.

My only pet peeve with the call is the official who is not paying attention to the whole play, and calling 3-seconds while a shot is in the air, and worse yet, having to wave off a made basket after the call. Perhaps that has something to do with his reasoning; make the call before that specific play in the post (what if it's an alley-oop), or before the shot goes up, to avoid those kind of problems.

I think that advantage/disadvantage is often seriously misapplied in the matter of 3-seconds. It is a major league advantage just being in the lane - the defense has to guard you.

And the defense doesn't have to guard you if you are 6 feet farther East or West?:rolleyes:

It should be applied all the time, yet take in to account when a player is making an attempt to leave the lane, dribbles in, or attempts a shot and or you have used previous verbiage to warn the culprit he/she before the 3 second count expired.

The advantage gained by the offense alters the defense to defend differently when the offensive player camps inside the free-throw lanes.

Strategically, overall, if there's a player in the lane - let's say 3 feet from the hoop - the imperative to guard that player is significantly higher than it is if that player is father from the basket. Field goal percentage is pretty much proportional the length of the shot - with some allowance for the fact that modern players don't shoot very well in the entire midrange.

that's good stuff!
 

Now we're talking ... I like that!

thansk
David

You mean there is a 3 second violation!

I agree with the Advantage/Disadvantage call. Tell them to get out. Pick your nose. If there is no advantage being made, then why in the world is this a violation.

Because it is and it can be an advantage for the offense.

Re: that's good stuff!
 

I called one in the first week of January. First one I've called in at least two seasons. Not that I won't call it, but at the varsity level most players know to keep moving.

Re: Re: that's good stuff!
 

I had my first one of the season on Monday. HS boys. Kid was floating up and down from the block to the elbow, but never actually getting out of the lane. He was technically in the lane for about 10 seconds, I would guess, but only his heels or one foot at a time. Just never completely cleared.

He finally came back down to the low post, flashed to the middle of the lane, caught a pass, pivoted, looked at the basket, and pivoted away from the basket. Tweet!

The one thing I really look
 

for on three seconds is the kid, low in the lane from the box up to the next hash, who is on the WEAK side. He typically isn't in the immediate play or action. However, on a shot, or, as the ball swings, if he hasn't cleared, he is in perfect spot for a rebound or a seal. I call this 3 seconds more than all others combined. However, I bet I haven't called it more than 3 times this entire season.

Re: Re: Re: that's good stuff!
 

I actually called a three seconds the other night also, kid moved into the lane and stayed there pivot, pivot, pivot, and finally passed the ball out, but stayed in the lane to get rebounding position.

Tweet!

But, calling game last night and one of my partners called it at least four times and unnecessarily.

Twice the ball was in the air, tweet! No basket three seconds, that's poor officiating.

Thanks
David

" Furthermore, the player who thus receives the ball may get leeway, but her teammate also in the lane does not."

9-7-3 says: " . . . Allowance shall be made for a player who, having been in the restricted area for less than 3 seconds, dribbles in or moves immediately to try for goal." There is reference to 9-7-3 in the current Casebook.

It is my impression that, in practice, officials do not enforce the 3 second rule against what I will term 'secondary' players, though clearly 9-7-3 does not mandate this.

That is, if A1 and A2 are both in the lane for less than 3 seconds and A1 receives the ball and immediately begins to dribble in to attempt a shot, the allowance that is made extends to A2.