Here's a pass at a review of traveling rules. Holler back if you find something missing, new, interesting, weird or just plain wrong. It covers a lot of ground, so corrections are expected. The final version will be included in a newsletter.
Traveling. It's about movement. (Draft)
Traveling is often misunderstood and miscalled. With a quick or crafty basketball player, it can be a challenge to determine if a travel violation or legal movement has occurred. The guiding principle of being sure before calling a violation fits particularly well for traveling. It is better to pass on a questionable travel violation than to take away the advantage gained by an offensive player via legal movement.
With the best of intentions, consistently getting the travel call right is hard. Without a solid understanding of the rule and careful study of travel situations, positive consistency is beyond reach.
This article addresses the traveling rules as defined by the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Basketball Association (NBA), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA). Fortunately, basic concepts and much of the detail is consistent across these rules. The differences are identified here.
A comprehensive definition of traveling is provided. The full content of each travel rule is available separately along with selected highlighting of differences at phillyref.com travel rules. Supplementary NFHS, NCAA, NBA and FIBA cases are also available.
Back for three, bunny hop, head start, late dribble and post shuffle are among the common missed travel violations that are identified. Some video examples are provided.
Some travel calls ain't travels. These include a legal jump stop, hustle slide, advancing without control of the ball and multiple steps during a dribble.