Violation or legal?
 

Had this happen in a game a couple times now:
A1 has the ball for a throw-in. He throws to A2 who catches the pass with one foot in the front court and the other off the floor. He then spins on that foot and places his other foot down in the backcourt. Is this over and back or legal?

Backcourt violation. Not legal.

Based on the description you gave then answer is yes. If the official ruled that control of the ball was maintained with one foot on the floor and the other in the air. At that time the player has FC status. Stepping in the BC would be illegal at this time.

Peace

Was he in the air or was the foot in the front court on the ground when he caught the ball. If a player catches the ball, he may come down straddling the line and it doesn't matter which foot hits first.

If his foot is already on the ground when he catches the ball, then he doesn't have that exception to the rule and it is a backcourt violation.

throw in
 

The official has to determine if the turning motion is a normal landing or not. IMO, if the player is rotating when he catches the ball and his momemtum causes him to rotate upon landing and the other foot comes down in FC first and then BC, the exception of 9-9-3(I only have 06-07 book here at laptop) allows this to be legal.

It is very dificult for the spinning motion to be made in any other means, but some are much more talented than I. If the spin is made after landing, then it is a violation.

One of those you have to make judgement very quickly regarding normal vs. non normal landing.

The "normal landing" only applies to an airborne player who has jumped from the FC, not a player who has a foot on the floor when he catches the ball and then steps into the BC. This is a violation. (9-9-3)

LOL, Jeff, I generally swallow my comments about grammar and English, but I thought this one too funny to ignore!

Observer says you're wrong
 

The 2nd part of the scenario is this: I knew the rule and called it a violation accordingly in the game. However, the observer told me I misapplied the rule and I should not have blown the whistle. I tried to explain that front court status had been attained as soon as he caught the ball, but he told me that was not the rule.
How would you (anyone) handle this situation?
If it happened at a camp and observer is highly rated official?
If it happened during the season and observer reports directly back to your supervisor?

Out loud: Thank you.

Not out loud: Idiot.

JMO:

Camp - "Yes, sir." You can forget the comment later.

Second scenario - this is a bit tougher. If you're worried about it being reported back to your supervisor as a kicked rule, you may want to say something to the observer along the lines of "I appreciate your concern on that rule, but I'm just pretty darn sure I'm right. Can we get into the rule book and find that right now?"

If that's not an option, a quick call to your supervisor to ask about it in a "Hey, [observer] noted that I kicked a backcourt violation call. I wanted to talk through it because if I kicked it I'm reading the rule wrong, but if I'm reading it right then I didn't kick it."

If you aren't worried about the observer reporting it back, then the camp philosophy may be best. ;)