Newsest Laws of the Land

Hey Folks,

11th edition rules are available and discussed. Here are some of the rules I like (I don't even know if these are new, but they're worded nicely and address good points):

• XI. Scoring, C, "A defensive player who believes the thrower was already in the end 10 zone should overrule that implicit call, and award the goal to the thrower, regardless of the outcome of the subsequent pass. " - This really is the spirit of the game and the poor player who doesn't know they're in the endzone gets the point they rightly deserve.
• XIV. The Marker, A, 5, (2) Marking violation....count reached minus one, disc is in play - Penalty for over aggressive marks.
• XIV. The Marker, B, 3, "3. Disc-space: If an imaginary line segment connecting any two points on the marker touches the thrower or is less than one disc diameter away from the upper body or pivot of the thrower, it is a disc space violation. However, if this situation is caused solely by movement of the thrower, it is not a violation." - I like the finer definition of disc space.
• XV. The Receiver, C, However, changing direction or increasing speed while in possession of the disc is a travel. - Can't accelerate...interesting was probably in the last set, but I didn't notice. I still want to call it on someone.
• XVI. Violations and Fouls, H, 2. Contact resulting from adjacent opposing players simultaneously vying for the same unoccupied position, is not in itself a foul. - This one's big and should clear up many foul calls. Whether this means deliberate arm contact I'm unsure, but I'm sure it doesn't (see XVI, H, 3, b, 1).

I'm also happy to see that reckless play can be treated as a foul. Overall, the rules seem easy enough to read for me. No huge changes to the rules.

For details on the changes there's some interesting things to read:

• * If an infraction did not “affect the play,” the outcome of the play stands. “Affected the play” is now clearly defined, and it is now up to the infracted player to determine whether the infraction affected the play. - I like this, but it will be challenging.
  
• Possession rules (including the requirement for possession to survive ground contact) are now in the scoring section to clarify the illegality of clap spikes, etc. - This is an obvious and good addition.
• A stall count cannot be initiated after a turnover or a pull until the thrower establishes a pivot, unless delay of game rules apply. Therefore, throwers cannot be stalled as they are walking the disc inbounds or from the endzone to put the disc in play. However, receivers catching and running out-of-bounds or into the end-zone can still be stalled from the time they gain possession of the disc. - I wonder what this means for people who layout. When can I start stall counting?"
• Touching the disc to the ground is required anytime the disc goes from live to in-play (for example when the disc is OB or in the endzone and is brought to the boundary line). Failure to touch the disc to the ground when required is now a travel. - Always touch the disc to the ground. Sounds simple and reasonable.

I'm not a huge rule guy, but it is improtant to stay up with the rules. It's also nice to have everyone on the team aware of the rules, and a knowledgeable rule person is always nice to have. Finally, as a coach it's probably most important to have a good knowledge of the rules and make sure your players are aware of them. Even correcting them when they are wrong in game situations is the way to go.

PJ