From the NFHS Rules book:
A closely guarded situation occurs when a player in control of the ball in his/her team's frontcourt, is guarded by an opponent who is within 6 feet of the player who is holding the ball.

I have always used the distance between the 2 opponent's as measured from the location of their feet on the floor. Not necessarily the "closest" points between the players. A player could be 10 feet away, bend at the waist, reach out with his hands and be within 6 feet. However I don't think this is what the rule intended and not how I have been interpreting it.

Anyone have some definitive interpretation of the "within 6 feet" clause above.

Thanks

I think that you are nit-picking the rule to death. No one really knows what is meant by this rule, or any rule for that matter. I think that you should use common sense when interpreting any rule in any sport. Remember that we never have a ruler on the court measuring the 6 foot distance so we are always estimating. It is much simpler to estimate from the feet then to start worrying about "is the bosy bent over" or "are the arms extended towards the opponent." In short: don't sweat the small stuff and worry about the things that need and deserve concern during a game.

Agree with Firedoc. The intent of the rule was to stop actionless contests and reward teams for playing good defense.If the defender is just staying about 6 feet away and not putting any pressure on the player with the ball,why reward him/her?

That is not what the rules says. How can a player be standing within 6 feet of a player with the ball and not guarding them? The rule says nothing about putting pressure on the ball, it says guarding. If the player is within six feet, he must want something to happen or result from him/her standing there. If the defender was not guarding him or her then what else could they be doing? You require them to jump up and down with arms rapidly moving constantly to consider a 5 second count?

Peace

The defense must have a presence about them in order to get the count. :D

Funny.
 

Good one!! :D

This is a rule that I think could use some work on the way it is worded. The definition of guarding is "legally placing the body in the path of an offensive opponent." From here we look at the definition of legal guarding position:a.The guard must have both feet touching the floor.
b. The front of the guard's torso must be facing the opponent.
Therefore the rulebook definition of "guarding" could consist of "just standing there" as long as the defender is facing his opponent. In layman terms I think most of us think of guarding as attempting to keep someone from scoring. Based on this assumption, can you guard someone who is 6 feet away. I say no. Therefore in the real world most closely-guarded counts probably start in 3-4 foot range when the defender has assumed some sort of defensive posture. Taking some liberties with the rule as written? Yes, but no more so than in countless other cases.

Could you please point out from my exact statement above exactly where I said that the player with the ball WASN"T being closely guarded,by rules definition,in this situation? Personally,I can't see where I claimed otherwise.I fail to see the relevancy of your response to my post.

Here we go again...

Quit looking for offense, or you will find it.

Yikes! Nobody really knows what any rule means?!?! Did you study Derrida in college? :) I think (I hope) that some of the rules are extremely clear in both their meaning and their intent. Due to differences in human beings, however, the way different officials apply those rules may be different.

That's true, but we do have help, even without carrying a ruler. The distance from the FT line to the top of the 3-point arc is 6 feet. The distance from the center of the midcourt line to the jump circle is 6 feet. Two adjacent lane spaces combine for 6 feet (and 2 inches). And although it's not much help for measuring closely guarded, the width of a rectangular backboard is 6 feet.

So if you got a defender on the FT line, and the dribbler at the top of the 3-point arc, you better be counting.

Chuck

Closely-Guarded to me is six feet and the defender actually in anyway shape or form attempting to guard his/her person with the ball. If the defender is just standing there looking at the ceiling, I do not care how close they are together no count!

AK ref SE