Closely Guarded...six feet question

[RickyD]

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