NFHS emphasis on elbow contact

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Contact above the shoulders. With a continued emphasis on reducing concussions and decreasing excessive contact situations the committee determined that more guidance is needed for penalizing contact above the shoulders.

a. A player shall not swing his/her arm(s) or elbow(s) even without contacting an opponent. Excessive swinging of the elbows occurs when arms and elbows are swung about while using the shoulders as pivots, and the speed of the extended arms and elbows is in excess of the rest of the body as it rotates on the hips or on the pivot foot. Currently it is a violation in Rule 9 Section 13 Article.

b. Examples of illegal contact above the shoulders and resulting penalties.
1. Contact with a stationary elbow may be incidental or a common foul.
2. An elbow in movement but not excessive should be an intentional foul.
3. A moving elbow that is excessive can be either an intentional foul or flagrant personal foul.

So, if a player grabs a rebound, holds the ball in front of him with elbows slightly out, and at shoulder level, and pivots, moving his elbows with a rotational motion no faster than his feet move on the pivot, in other words, the elbow movement is not considered excessive, and accidentally strikes a shorter nearby player in the head, in the rebounder's blind spot, behind him, and to the side, and the official decides that this is illegal contact, then, according to the NFHS, the minimum "level" foul that we can charge here is an intentional foul? Do I have this right? We can't charge a common foul here? Am I reading the point of emphasis correctly?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

So, if a player grabs a rebound, holds the ball in front of him with elbows slightly out, and at shoulder level, and pivots, moving his elbows with a rotational motion no faster than his feet move on the pivot, in other words, the elbow movement is not considered excessive, and accidentally strikes a shorter nearby player in the head, in the rebounder's blind spot, behind him, and to the side, and the official decides that this is illegal contact, then, according to the NFHS, the minimum "level" foul that we can charge here is an intentional foul? Do I have this right? We can't charge a common foul here? Am I reading the point of emphasis correctly?

Any possibility that this could backfire on the NFHS? Like the time that they changed excessive swinging from a violation to a non-contact technical foul, and only a few officials called it that way because some thought that the penalty was too harsh? After a few seasons of many officials not calling anything on excessive swinging, the NFHS changed it back to just a violation. I can certainly see some veterans on my local board choose to rule incidental contact rather than charging an intentional foul on non-excessive swinging that results in elbow to head contact, when in past years they simply would have called a common foul to end such behavior. And I can see many more of our local veterans simply ignoring the Point of Emphasis and just charge a common foul in the same situation.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

So, if a player grabs a rebound, holds the ball in front of him with elbows slightly out, and at shoulder level, and pivots, moving his elbows with a rotational motion no faster than his feet move on the pivot, in other words, the elbow movement is not considered excessive, and accidentally strikes a shorter nearby player in the head, in the rebounder's blind spot, behind him, and to the side, and the official decides that this is illegal contact, then, according to the NFHS, the minimum "level" foul that we can charge here is an intentional foul? Do I have this right? We can't charge a common foul here? Am I reading the point of emphasis correctly?

Yep, you got that right. The only reason a player has their elbows in such a position is to use them to clear space, even if not excessively swung. They want the elbows out of the play altogether.

[Sharpshooternes]

Can you all chime in on the mechanic of reporting a a flagrant personal foul from excessive use of elbows above the shoulders?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Sharpshooternes

Can you all chime in on the mechanic of reporting a a flagrant personal foul from excessive use of elbows above the shoulders?

There are no official signals or mechanics for any flagrant foul.

My suggestion is to just verbalize all the information when it comes to the type of foul and then give the "heave-ho" signal at the end when reporting to the table.

Otherwise there is no standard for these situation.

Peace

[Rob1968]

Where do I find the "heave-ho" signal?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rob1968

Where do I find the "heave-ho" signal?

The same place you find the flagrant foul signal.

Peace

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Rob1968

Where do I find the "heave-ho" signal?

I know that it's not approved by IAABO. Pretty sure that it's not approved by the NFHS.