"He caught it in the air, Coach."
 

Had a typical one last night. Ball in FC, player passes it to teammate who catches it jumping from BC to FC. He hadn't landed in the FC yet, I called the violation and his coach looked dumbfounded.

I said, "he caught it in the air," as I went back to lead.

Coach thought I meant the violation was for catching in the air and started to complain further. My partner told him what I meant and he let it go, but I learned a lesson.

1. You can't give a shorthand answer to a coach. Saying nothing would have been better here.

It sounds as though your statement "he caught it in the air, coach" was a short form for "he caught it while airborne, and before stepping in the FC, coach".

Players catch a pass while airborne all the time, and no violations are called. Surely the coach did really think it is illegal to catch the ball while airborne. If he did, quite frankly, he might be the dumbest coach I've ever heard of.

Sure, the division line complicated matters, but I think your response is fine. If the coach doesn't know enough that this is a violation, then sadly not saying anything will cause the least confusion.

He didn't think it was illegal, he thought I thought it was illegal. Again, though, I can't imagine a coach not understanding it. You're right, it should have been obvious what I meant. It obviously wasn't, though.

The partner who elaborated (he was putting it in play near division line table side) told me later he thought my answer was fine, too. Next time, maybe, "He hadn't landed in the front court yet, coach."

Shaqs,
This is a rather common situation. As you have since stated, I simply state, "the player's status is based on where he JUMPED FROM until he lands, again -- he JUMPED from the backcourt and had not yet landed in the frontcourt. Therefore, the player had backcourt status when he touched the ball -- hence, the violation." Not shorthand, but still pretty quick.

How about: "He had backcourt status." Saves words, and is even slightly more explanatory than what you said.