Punch Ball

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by Gimlet25id

JR..I'm surprised by your response. I have personally never got to 10 on a FT count but will admit that my count probably isn't the fastest in the world either.

Your generally so by the book. I just can't see how you could set aside an obvious hit of the ball with a fist. The rule is clear and doesn't have any language in it that would suggest allowances or intent.

I'd say it has to do with defining "strike". It's not hard to see how in the OP the fist didn't really strike the ball, just sort of stopped it. You might think of it as the fist being legal, but the "strike" not so mjuch. Punching is illegal because it's dangerous, and also, I've been told, so that a player can't punch toward someone and then try to pretend he/she was aiming for the ball.

Edited to change word "punch" to "strike".