Tapping an airborne shooter

[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.