Traveling philosophies....

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by just another ref

It is a bad sign when a violation has been committed so much it has its own name. I have made this call many times, and I am aware that others do not call it. I see this much more often at the varsity level than at lower levels, which, to me, means it is conscious, not careless. Also, while it is sometimes a step back to create space from a defender, many times it is done with no defender in the picture. This says to me that it was done either a. for show
or b. for no reason at all. (same thing really) This makes me even less inclined to be "tolerant."

We also have options (c) player doing this to re-adjust his/her balance before shooting or (d) doing this to align him/herself behind the 3-point line. Either way, it DOES give the shooter an advantage.

That said, I don't always call this - more because it happens so quickly that it passes me by. When I'm certain it's happened, though, I have a whistle every time.