Hand checking is defined as illegal contact by a defensive player which impedes the forward or lateral movements of the offensive player. The following are handchecking guidelines for all referees.

It is a foul if:

* A defender leaves his hand on an opponent

* A defender continually places hands on an opponent

* A defender places 2 hands on an opponent

* A defender continually jabs an opponent

* An illegal arm bar is used by the defender ( A arm bar may be used by a defender in the post but not when face to face.)

 

Sorry, I went to my first game in a while last night and thought they had surely changed the rules but they are still the same.

Hand checking and palming the ball could be called on every trip down the floor if they chose to enforce it. Kind of like a police officer who could write a ticket to just about every car he sees but chooses to write tickets on the big ones.

 

I have seen some curiously-timed hand checking fouls called this year.

Some teams make hand checking a fine artform. If they don't call it it is not a foul.

Officials for years were instructed to call the handchecking early, to minimize their problems as the game progresses but they simply didn't call it at all last night.

They should just take it out of the rule book if it is not going to be called on a regular basis. That way officials will not be able to select the situations they decide to use the rules in.

On second thought, why continue the farce? Simply take handchecking and palming out of the rule book so that every team could work on them and make them artforms and we would also eliminate the curiously timed calls.

IMPEDES is the key word here. if you called a foul as you outlind in your first post you would have to run every coach in the STATE every night! In addition you would be in the double bonus about four minutes into each game. The idea is to let the kids decide the outcome of the game not the officials.Most fans are never happy anyway... to many fouls not enough fouls. Some of these post are always criticizing the officials,every association accepts new officials,Go take the test and put your money were your mouth is.All of the gutless comments... Please , takes more guts to go out and call than it ever will to sit here and CRY!!!! TRY IT YOU MIGHT LIKE IT, BUT THEN AGAIN....

It is small issue in my eyes. If the "hand check" doesn't give the defensive player an advantage then what is the point of calling it. Sometimes the hand is just there thats why the kids do it. Unless the defender is pushing the playing back or grading his jersey he is not really gaining an advantage.

It's only frustrating to me when its obviously done to gain an advantage.

 

When teams might be a step slower or just play hard nosed man to man defense, it becomes an advantage. I love watching good defense, but when it literally starts to become mugging, something needs to be called.

It stands to reason that handchecking must give some advantage or else why do it and risk a foul being called? Maybe the advantage is not physical but psychological. Nonetheless, it is an advantage and against the rules.

I think so many of the referees are so confused with all these things mentioned , they don't know what to call. I don't like palming the ball and don't like hand checking. I think referees have let the game get out of hand and don't know how to correct it. Sometomes it just don't look like it would be fun to play as rough as it is. A foul is a foul whether it's under the basket or or out on the floor and should be called. I saw a kid get knocked to his knees on a last second shot and no call was made and the referee said "You just don't call a foul with one second on the clock". That kind of thinking or should say trend, is garbage. I also see the charge-blocking call missed about half the time . It seems that some refs are more concerned about floor position than making the right calls. The last two games I've seen this year were ,knock down ,drag out games. It doesn't seem to be getting better.

It stands to reason that handchecking must give some advantage or else why do it and risk a foul being called? Maybe the advantage is not physical but psychological. Nonetheless, it is an advantage and against the rules.

There is an advantage if you know how to do it the right ways.

Basketball over the last 20 years has become much more physical. The paint looks like a wrestling match. Skilled players are not permitted to play.

There is a way to get rid of handchecks and some coaches do teach this method. It is when an offensive player takes a close fist and knocks the defenders hand off of them. Trust me, it works.

I think handchecking has gotten out of hand a lot this season in a lot of the games I have seen. When a defender uses it as an advantage to stop the offensive player from penetrating that is a foul. I have seen it not called way too many times. Most of the times in big games where physical teams have used it to even the game up some.