Basketball Dribbling: Does the Ball Come to Rest?

[bigseths]

Hello all,
I officiate high school and college basketball. One of our rules concerning a dribble states that any time the ball comes to rest in a dribbler's hand, it is a violation. I won't concern you with all of the details of our argument, but I will pose a question that if answered like I believe it will be, will support my side.

When dribbling a basketball, or even slapping the ball down with your hand, does the ball come to rest everytime it is pushed back to the ground? However short a time it may be.

Or when a ball is shot and bounds off of the backboard, does the ball "come to rest" on the backboard before changing direction?

Thanks in advance for your responses, Seth Smiley

 

[Meir Achuz]

The ball is always at rest with respect to the hand during the collision.
They might mean that the hand cannot also be at rest with respect to the ground, but this also happens in any collision with the hand at rest.
When I played, the rule was that no part of your hand could be under the ball (called "palming"). Even this rule is routinely ignored in the NBA, especially for stars.

 

[bigseths]

I completely understand the rule, the powers that be want us to start enforcing it to keep "stars" from gaining an advantage. My view on the issue is we should leave well enough alone. If a player "palms" the ball gaining an advantage, we should call it, if not, leave it alone. I started my argument to show the silliness of the rule. That we should interpret the rule and apply it when necessary. Thanks though

 

[rcgldr]

In the pro's, unless the player "palms" the ball upwards, there's no call. I've seen a lot of player "dribble" with an almost horizontal push on the ball, virtually carrying the ball during the dribble, during a fast break, and I've never seen this called "palming". I was not aware of any rule regarding the ball coming to rest, just a rule about "palming" the basketball, or using both hands on any dribble other than the first one after receiving a pass or rebounding.

 

[Meir Achuz]

Perhaps the rule applies to actually holding the ball in the grip of a large hand.
This would keep it at rest longer than during a collision.