brief version of ASA rules

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by steveshane67

while i understand your point of view, i dont think its that bad of an idea.

99.9% of players arent going to read the rule book. players might read a "cliffs notes" version that covers common scenarios. players who know the "cliffs noted" version would be better, IMO, than players who dont know any rule versions. i know a pretty standard response i use often, to arguments posed by players, is "thats not a rule" or "thats not a rule in ASA softball"

obviously the rules would be prefaced with a statement like these are a concise version of the rules, not all scenarios for each rule, or exceptions for each rule are covered....

Absolutely not. I think you have too much faith in the players and coaches. Giving them an abridged version of the rule book won't do anyone any kind of service, and here's why.

1 - Coaches and players love to pick and choose rules and take them out of context. At a National, I had couple of players b1tching at me because a couple of batters hit chip shots to the outfield without "breaking their wrists." I later found out that they were using Rules Supplement #10, which has to do with check swings!

2 - There are certain sections of the rule book that are pretty long because they have to be. Do you really want to try and abridge obstruction? Or interference? How about unreported subs? I don't think so.

3 - If you give players and coaches such a book, they're going to use it as THE authoritative guide on the rules of softball. They will ignore the fact that it's the abridged version. They will swear up and down "this is the rule! I read it! I read the rules!" No, you read the abridged rules, and had you bothered to read the ACTUAL rules, maybe you would understand that.

You're giving coaches and players WAY too much credit. Trust me, while your intentions may be good, I think abridging it would only serve to confuse things even more.