kick play

[MJT]

Ok, but you said "R has the incentive, instead of playing the ball themselves, to station themselves just in front & in-field of the ball, blocking K from recovery and secure in the knowledge that if the ball doesn't roll out of bounds untouched on its own, K might force R into the ball and likely cause it to go OOB. Don't you want R to have the incentive to play the free kick themselves rather than camping over it like that?"

This is the part that I cannot see happening. I couldn't see R keeping K from the ball instead of fielding the ball themselves.

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by MJT

Ok, but you said "R has the incentive, instead of playing the ball themselves, to station themselves just in front & in-field of the ball, blocking K from recovery and secure in the knowledge that if the ball doesn't roll out of bounds untouched on its own, K might force R into the ball and likely cause it to go OOB. Don't you want R to have the incentive to play the free kick themselves rather than camping over it like that?"

This is the part that I cannot see happening. I couldn't see R keeping K from the ball instead of fielding the ball themselves.

Depends on the penalty for FKOOB.

This is a commonplace in sports -- perverse incentives on play near the sidelines. Many times it pays for one team to simply obstruct rather than playing the ball.

There's another solution: penalize only for free kicks that go out of bounds without bouncing in bounds.

Robert

[Mike L]

I have a really hard time envisioning any coach rolling the dice like that. If it doesn't work, K gets the ball. It simply would not happen.