[BD] Travelling rule clarification

[David Grayson]

nick.maynard at yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> I think the governing rule here is that the player has to be coming to a stop as quickly as possible. 
Totally disagree. If you make a pass within 3 ground contacts its fine. 
Calling travel on someone for not slowing down in their 2 steps is 
ridiculous. 3 ground contacts = 2 steps and that's not a lot, you can't 
possibly judge someone's slowing down in that time accurately. Almost 
everyone will slow down anyway, because the action of catching requires 
you to slow down.

Since we're having a long debate about Spirit here's what I think is the 
main point that seems to get forgotten.

1.2 "It is trusted that no player will intentionally violate the rules; 
thus there are no harsh penalties for infractions, but rather a method 
for resuming play in a manner which simulates what would most likely 
have occured had there been no infraction".

This was explained to me as a beginner in the following sentence "the 
rules are only there to ensure that what would have happened happens". 
All rules should therefore be subject to this general understanding. In 
other words if a turnover happens and something else happened that 
didn't affect play then it should be a turnover etc. My only problem 
with Spirit in this country is with those players who try to analyse the 
rules to the nth degree and interpret them as if the syntax of the rule 
itself is the most important thing - it isn't, the rules are there to 
guide us, not control us. Every time the rules are clarified there will 
always be ambiguity, stop trying to exploit it! Truth is its a pretty 
simple sport really, and we should be trying to play to the Spirit of 
the rules rather than the letter.

I do however think there should also be an extra clarification that says 
you are allowed to punch anyone who says "but I didn't mean it" as a 
defence against something being a foul. None of us mean fouls, not even 
"Horsing" TQ ;-)

As an extra aside, I'm surprised the Spirit scoring system is causing a 
huge debate. Spirit in this country seems pretty good to me (though 
perhaps I'm just a "little Englander") and while getting the Spirit 
scoring system to be simpler to fill in would be great, its hardly a big 
deal is it? Winning Spirit is great, but it should just be an extra 
bonus. Besides, if you really want it then you have to drive further to 
tournaments ;-)

Dave.
Chevron.
T3 Spirit winners.

>  and without changing direction. If they are doing that and throw within three steps, then it's fine. However, if the receiver takes a step, jumps and passes while in the air, they are clearly not coming to a stop as quickly as possible and so it's a travel. 
>
> The problem comes with determining when a player is 'cruising' to a stop. If your mind is on the throw, you often stop trying to slow as quickly as possible (especially if you are in a home boy and trying to make the next cut), so then while the throw may be within three ground contacts, it is still a travel.
>
> The pivot point isn't established until the thrower comes to a complete
> stop, but they may still pass whilst slowing (as long as it's within
> the first two steps after catching). On the flip side, it's interesting to note that a stall count can't start until the player has come to a stop, thereby establising a pivot point.
>
> Rules:
>
> 17.2.1. A Travel violation occurs if:
> ....
> 17.2.1.3. a receiver does not come to a stop as quickly as
> possible or changes direction after catching the disc;
> ---------------------
> 17.3.1.4. "Fast Count" – the marker:
> ...
> 17.3.1.4.3. starts the stall count before the Offensive
> player establishes both possession of the disc and a pivot
> point,
>
> Nick
> Boogie Knights
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: "Stewart, Daniel (GE Money)" <Daniel.Stewart at ge.com>
> To: BritDisc <britdisc at ranulf.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, 21 August, 2007 3:59:37 PM
> Subject: [BD] Travelling rule clarification
>
> I got a call at the weekend from a very experienced (read: old) player which, at the time, seemed absurd, but I can't find anything in the '07 rules that says otherwise. The call was along the lines of "you don't need to have to established a pivot point within your first 3 ground contacts in order to pass the disc". That is to say, you can throw with both feet OFF the ground, if you're within your first 3 steps.
>
> This went against my understanding of the rules, and I imagine most players would call such a move as a travel. The rules don't seem to explicitly state this as a violation:
>
> 17.2.1. A Travel violation occurs if:
>
> 17.2.1.2. the thrower fails to keep in contact with the pivot
> point once established;
>
> 17.2.1.4. a receiver releases a pass during or after the third
> ground contact and before coming to a complete stop (any ground
> contact during the catch is the first ground contact);
>
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
> Dan
> LLL
>
>
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