Tapping an airborne shooter

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

There's no way a "tap" displaces the shooter. It's not a push, not a slap, not a hold. He tapped him. I'm picturing a tap like tapping somebody on the shoulder to get their attention. That tap might displace a 3 pound basketball, but it absolutely does not displace a 100+ pound teenager. It just doesn't.


It's not like the tap on the elbow. The tap on the elbow actually changes the shooting motion. A tap on the leg doesn't change anything, and doesn't inhibit the normal offensive movement of the player.

I'm with Scrappy on this.

That's got to be 1 healthy tap to displace a human. If that's the case then we're not discussing a tap, we're discussing a push.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Dan_ref

I'm with Scrappy on this.

Sycophant.

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Sycophant.

Sackosh1t.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by Dan_ref

Sackosh1t.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Furthermore...I wave my private parts at your aunties.

[Dan_ref]

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Sycophant.

Oooh, Greek roots. Good for you! Show the fig, baby!

[lmeadski]

This is a foul for this reason: the stomach area is a bit more sensitive than other areas of the body. A tap there can force the stomach muscles to contract. That contraction will most certainly affect a kids shot. Now, can we tell if the tap truly distracted the shooter and caused a muscle reflex? Unless the shooter doubles over, probably not. However, having played and having been tapped in the stomach while shooting, I can tell you it can be a MAJOR shot altering event. Players attempt this/do this because they KNOW the affect it has on the shooter. No question in my mind: foul. I called this last year during a tourney. The kid asked why the call. I explained the stomach tap and the distraction. He just smiled, he understood. He didn't do it again the rest of the game. Foul.

[Chess Ref]

Originally Posted by lmeadski

This is a foul for this reason: the stomach area is a bit more sensitive than other areas of the body. A tap there can force the stomach muscles to contract. That contraction will most certainly affect a kids shot. Now, can we tell if the tap truly distracted the shooter and caused a muscle reflex? Unless the shooter doubles over, probably not. However, having played and having been tapped in the stomach while shooting, I can tell you it can be a MAJOR shot altering event. Players attempt this/do this because they KNOW the affect it has on the shooter. No question in my mind: foul. I called this last year during a tourney. The kid asked why the call. I explained the stomach tap and the distraction. He just smiled, he understood. He didn't do it again the rest of the game. Foul.

Thanks for reminding me what it was like to "tapped" in the stomach.

I will be more aware of this from now on.

[Raymond]

So, can someone provide a list of body parts that are and aren't allowed to be tapped during a shot?

Elbow: NO
Leg: YES
Stomach: ???
Nose: ???

[ref2coach]

Back in HS we had an assistant coach who would play 1 on 1 with any player to 10 points with the "bet" being a Pizza. He was ~5'10", overweight but a great shooter. His caveat being that he was allowed 3 "got-cha" fouls. So first time you would go up for a shot he will "flick" very forcefully your "very venerable" male anatomy, and say "got-cha". Rest of game all he had to say was "got-cha" and you would flinch to the point that you could not concentrate on your shot. Not all "taps" are created equal.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

So, can someone provide a list of body parts that are and aren't allowed to be tapped during a shot?

Elbow: NO
Leg: YES
Stomach: ???
Nose: ???

A list?

OK.

A tap on any body part that you judge as having affected the shooter.

It's a straight judgment call. If you're sure that the tap affected the shooter, make the call; if you're not 100% sure, don't call anything. And trust your judgment and don't second-guess your calls.

Jmo.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by lmeadski

This is a foul for this reason: the stomach area is a bit more sensitive than other areas of the body. A tap there can force the stomach muscles to contract. That contraction will most certainly affect a kids shot.

No offense, but this is the silliest thing I've read in a while.

[lmeadski]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

No offense, but this is the silliest thing I've read in a while.

First a bit of logic: if it truly didn't distract the shooter, then why would a defender do it? Secondly, I guess you never got tapped in the stomach when you weren't expecting it. Third, some people are ticklish in that area., I am not one of them, but all my kids are. For clarification, I don't ascribe to this as a displacement issue. Being tapped/poked/jabbed, whatever you want to call it, will have a deleterious affect on a shooters shot and his concentration. I have no problem with the affect on the concentration, I have a problem with the physical response of the stomach tap.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by lmeadski

First a bit of logic: if it truly didn't distract the shooter, then why would a defender do it?

First, that's not logic. That's simply a rhetorical question. Why do they do it? Who knows? Why do coaches yell "3 seconds"? Does yelling it make it true? No. So does tapping (not pushing, remember) a player in the stomach make it effective? No. (By the way, that's a bit of logic. It's an argument from analogy. It's not a great argument, I'll grant you. )

Secondly, I guess you never got tapped in the stomach when you weren't expecting it.

Of course I have, and I can tell you firsthand that it doesn't cause a large enough reaction to affect a shooting motion. That's just ridiculous.

Third, some people are ticklish in that area.

Who the bleep cares? Are we really going to be watching for ticklish reactions on the court? This "tap" should be around #417 on the list of things to be looking for during a shooting sequence. This isn't even a subject for serious consideration, IMO.

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

No offense, but this is the silliest thing I've read in a while.

rockyroad's on your ignore list...?