Softball Forum

Trivial situation - attacker and blocker. One lands on the foot of the other. No foot is completely beyond the center line. Happens very often and besides being the #1 source of injuries, it is (generally) legal. But is it always? What if the person on top, pinning the other, does not move fast enough making the pinned player unable to move to play the ball? “Fast enough” here is very relative, a fraction of a second could be too long when the ball is falling. The situation seems to fit precisely the definition for interference: Quote: 15.2.3 Interference It is a fault to interfere with an opponent. Interference is defined as contact that hinders an opponent’s opportunity to play the ball . Inadvertent contact that does not affect an opponent’s ability to make a play shall not be considered interference. And is not cleared by: Quote: 15.2.4.2 Contacting the opponent’s court with the feet is permitted, provided some part of the penetrating foot or feet remains in contact with or directly above the center line, and there is no interference with opponents .

What's an "RS"? I was looking at an explanation of how a typical lineup is set and the RS was opposite the setter's position. I normally call that person the "opposite". I'm not familiar with the RS abbreviation. Somebody educate me, please.

1) When pursuit rules are in effect: team's first contact travels outside the antenna and lands out of bounds without being touched. Does R2 whistle this antenna fault? 2) When a 5 minute intermission is used after the 2nd set, does the R1 signal for the teams to return to the bench or to switch sides?

Is it just me, or Ryan’s description didn’t quite match the actual video?

Everyone wish Jeff a Happy Birthday!! MTD, Sr.

The 2026-27 high school basketball season is just around the corner and I thought I would put together Situations for the Guarding (NFHS R4-S23) and Screening (R4-S40) Rules. These Situations are meant to make everyone THINK AND STUDY the Rules themselves. Given: Team A is the Offensive Team and Team B is the Defensive Team when there is Team Control; a) neither Team are in the Bonus; b) Team A is in the Bonus; c) Team B is in the Bonus; and d) both Teams are in the Bonus. Give Rulings for a , b , c , and d . Situation 1: The Ball is Live and there is no Team Control. A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and A1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of B1 and B) less than two strides ahead of B1. A1 turns slightly to his/her left and steps into B1’s Path, B1 cannot stop and makes Contact with A1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you? Situation 2: The Ball is Live and Team A has Control of the Ball but there is no Player Control of the Ball. A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and A1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of B1 and B) less than two strides ahead of B1. A1 turns slightly to his/her left and steps into B1’s Path, B1 cannot stop and makes Contact with A1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you? Situation 3: The Ball is Live and A3 has Player Cont

NCAA Exam Question: R-15 makes a save in the front zone. After the play, she slides and her upper body crosses the center line and touches the Team S court. R-15 does not contact any Team S player, but S-9 must step around R-15 to play the ball. Answer Options: IWP = Individual Warning or Penalty PtR = Team R wins a point & the serve DQ = Disqualification RP = Replay IR = Denial, Improper Request L = Legal Play, Request or Action DW = Delay Warning DP = Delay Penalty TO = Timeout PtS = Team S wins a point & the serve AS = Administrative Sanction I would have answered answered PtS, if not for the very explicit definition of interference in Rule 15.2.3. Rule 15.2.3 Interference It is a fault to interfere with an opponent. Interference is defined as contact that hinders an opponent’s opportunity to play the ball. Inadvertent contact that does not affect an opponent’s ability to make a play shall not be considered interference. (bold and underlined emphasis mine) I answered "Legal Play, Request or Action," based on the explicit definition of interference in Rule 15.2.3, that requires contact that hinders an opponent. The question specifically mentions that there is no contact. If the rules overlords want a whistle when interfering based on the traditional definition of the word, they should not specifically define it otherwise in Rule 15.2.3.

My state (Illinois), no longer has softball mechanics available on their website. Where can I get info to study? Thanks in advance

NCAA Question: The court graphic in the picture shows commercial/nonprofit logos placed on the court between the attack line and end line on each side of the court. This logo placement is legal since the logos do not interfere with any court markings. __ Correct __ Incorrect [B]Rule 1.2.2.4 Commercial or Nonprofit Logos—A maximum of two commercial or nonprofit logos shall be permitted on the playing court and must conform to the following standards: a. The logo(s) shall fit into a box that is not larger than 3 meters by 3 meters (10 feet by 10 feet) , with no more than one logo on each half of the playing court; b. This box shall be located between the attack line and end line and must not interfere with any required court markings or boundary lines; *************************************** Based on the scale court diagram above, the Taco Bell logo appears to be a 20' x 5' logo. I answered that the Taco Bell logo is not legal, because is obviously over 10' wide. This was deemed incorrect. Huh? The only way that 20' logo fits in a 10' x 10' box is if it's still folded before being placed on the floor!

The only one of the NCAA/PAVO Officiating Techniques Quiz questions I missed was referring to the "Non-Discreet Awareness Notification." What is the Non-Discreet Awareness Notification?

With nothing else on summer television, I've been watching some WNBA action (and to check out some cute players). I hope that next year's high school players aren't watching a lot of WNBA games. I checked out the WNBA rules. Neither are allowed. I guess that the WNBA has some apathetic officials just like we have in some apathetic officials in our high school games.

Crazy thing happened this afternoon. In the locker room, my partner got out his headsets (the $400 per unit version), he got them to connect, but we couldn't hear each other. So I got out mine, I got them to pair, but we couldn't hear each other. We both turned them off and re-paired them and they synched, but had no audio. We kept trying my set right up to 1 minute before the match started. But we had to go without them. And then, we skipped the player intros because the announcer's microphone wouldn't connect to the gym's speakers. Never happened to me before and it just felt crazy.