First to touch on shot?

Originally Posted by jmaellis

Got it (thanks to Hawkeyecubp also). I think JR might be testing me; making sure that I F/U by actually looking up the rule. JR, you'll be happy to know that I figured out the rule reference is 10-3-3 not 10-3-4.

So, it's a T if the player does not return to the court via the shortest route available after being legally out of bounds (10-3-3). But it is only a violation for a player to purposely leave the court (I think the common example is a player who gets around a screen by leaving the court and circling around the opponent) (9-3-2).

From a newbie perspective the penalty for the above situations seems like it's flip-flopped. Anybody willing to take the time and enlighten me?

If I'm not mistaken, it used to be a T to leave the court but the Fed changed it a couple years ago to a violation to encourage officials to call this more.

[BktBallRef]

In your play, if she takes a direct path to the ball, I've got nothing. I don't expect her to immediately step inbounds and then run parallel down the sideline to reach a loose ball. I don't think the rule is meant to penalize such a play.

I would compare it to a baseball player running the basepath. The basepath is the shortest distance between where is standing and the base, not a direct line between two bases. JMHO