Legal Guarding Position
 

Freshman Girls, I called a player control foul on a a girl that made contact with a defender I felt has legal guarding position. The coach erupted because he said her feet were not set. So I have to ask, do the feet have to be solidly on the floor and set in order for it to be a player control foul?

You can still be moving and maintain legal guarding position. How would a defender play legal defense if they couldn't move?

Just making sure. I only questioned it after the fact because the coach was just so irate about it. Just a new guy double checking...

It's one of the more misunderstood rules/calls in basketball. If you tell the coach the defender had legal guarding position, he or she will probably get confused and stop complaining.

Had one tonight. Coach said, "He wasn't set, he was backing up!" "Yes coach and you're guy still ran over him."

Nope. However it is one of the commonly believed myths of basketball.

First of all, here are the actual rules concerning legal guarding position:
Rule 4-23
ART. 2 . . . To obtain an initial legal guarding position:
a. The guard must have both feet touching the playing court.
b. The front of the guard' torso must be facing the opponent.
ART. 3 . . . After the initial legal guarding position is obtained:
a. The guard may have one or both feet on the playing court or be airborne,
provided he/she has inbound status.
b. The guard is not required to continue facing the opponent.
c. The guard may move laterally or obliquely to maintain position, provided it
is not toward the opponent when contact occurs.
d. The guard may raise hands or jump within his/her own vertical plane.
e. The guard may turn or duck to absorb the shock of imminent contact.
ART. 4 . . . Guarding an opponent with the ball or a stationary opponent without
the ball:
a. No time or distance is required to obtain an initial legal position.
b. If the opponent with the ball is airborne, the guard must have obtained legal
position before the opponent left the floor.

By the way, as a rule coaches of freshmen teams are not necessarily the most knowledgeable when it comes to the Rules Book.....

And, as we all know, it is possible to have a PC foul even if the defender did not have legal guarding position.

Who You Gonna Call ??? Mythbusters ...
 

A defensive player does not have to remain stationary to take a charge. A defender may turn away or duck to absorb contact, provided he or she has already established legal guarding position, which is both feet on the playing court and facing the opponent. The defender can always move backwards or sideways to maintain a legal guarding position and may even have one or both feet off the playing court when contact occurs. That player may legally rise vertically. If the defender is moving forward, then the contact is caused by the defender, which is a blocking foul.