Avoiding an obstructing defender

[Dholloway1962]

Originally Posted by JefferMC

I was having a discussion with someone who says that he teaches his players to "make contact, not hard contact but contact, and then hope the ump calls the girls for obstruction." To me, this is counter to the whole reason behind the obstruction rule.

What do you say?

As long as it isn't malicious contact (i.e. lowering the shoulder and knocking her flat) I say the coach is right. I know there are a lot of umpires who won't call OBS unless there is contact, they are wrong but there are a few.