When is a tap a tap

[RulesGeek]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

I've had games where one of the players had only one hand. If s/he "tapped" the ball with the stub (a)below the elbow (b) at the end of the upper arm "stub" -- would you allow it?

Wow... way to turn me into an insensitive jerk.... and you really like messing with us literal folks, huh?

Here's how I call it (at least until fed publishes a clarification): the end of the arm is the hand. Why? (1) because I don't know what else to call the end of the arm, but more importantly, (2) because I have known a few folks with this disability and they did at times use the end of the arm to steady or balance objects in place of the hand. The could not grasp of course, but this play actually prohibits grasping. The "push" involved in the tap, if accomplished by the end of the arm, is done the same way with or without a hand and is legal in my book. If accomplished by the shaft of the arm, it is illegal just as it would be by a player without any disability.

And this is regardless of whether the arm ends above or below the elbow.