Why?

[Toren]

Originally Posted by tref

We bounce to the thrower on the sidelines & in the backcourt, but hand the ball on the frontcourt endline. Working with a younger official last night that asked "why?"

I was told by a veteran official it was to ensure we box in the players. Allow ourselves a good angle at the thrower-in and any pressure that might be coming.

I think I read this backwards. I was thinking why do we bounce the ball on the sidelines.

On the frontcourt, we hand it in because a bounce has more opportunity to be fumbled and since the defense is likely to be right there, this could lead to all kinds of messes.

[doubleringer]

Originally Posted by Toren

I was told by a veteran official it was to ensure we box in the players. Allow ourselves a good angle at the thrower-in and any pressure that might be coming.

Yup, and on the baseline we hand it to the thrower because there are a lot of players around and you don't want the ball going loose.

[tref]

Originally Posted by doubleringer

Yup, and on the baseline we hand it to the thrower because there are a lot of players around and you don't want the ball going loose.

When I gave this explanation, the bright eyed, bushy tailed youngster said, that can happen on the sidelines & b/c with pressure too.

I told him I'd get him a better answer...

[bainsey]

It was explained to me that a kid making a frontcourt endline throw-in has enough to think about with his close surroundings. Catching your bounce pass just adds another thing. Since there's typically (though not always) less pressure on sideline and backcourt endline throw-ins, a bounce pass is acceptable.

There are a few on here that say their local association only allows bounce passes on sideline throw-ins, so check your local listings.