A Way to Look at "Travelling"

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Freddy

Ran across this today. Got me to thinking. Have you heard of this before? Is this a valid perspective? Is there any merit to looking at it like this?

"Look at TRAVELLING not so much an error made by a weak athlete, as a mistake forced by a strong defense."

Seems to open up, for discussion purposes at least, a topic or two that might be worth exploring.

Anybody currently use this manner of thinking on the subject?

To answer your question, I don't deeply use this manner of thinking for this subject. However, there are actions by Team B that are keys for a possible travel.

Eg: B3 knows they are too late to intercept an outlet pass. Instead, B3 positions herself such that ball carrier A3 will be surprised when A3 turns to start dribbling upcourt. B3's defensive tactic could alert an official that B3 may have a strategic position advantage causing A3 to travel.

This is similar to B3 setting a trap just across the DL. Team A now has a short court because they can't go back past the DL.

A football analogy is if B is in poor defensive position, you might see an arm bar. If B is in great position, not only may you not see an arm bar, you might even see a touchback.

I don't believe that the bolded statement is an "end all and be all" to officiate traveling, but I do believe that smart defense can cause offensive mistakes.