can someone clairfy the throw-in rule for me? what is legal? what is illegal? case in point: we play with a guy who throws the ball in and it has tremendous amounts of spin on the ball. it comes out stright over his head but upon release the thing spins like crazy...is that legal?
That one of the myths of the game and is covered in a video produced by the USSF. As long as the throwing motion is continuous and the ball is brought behind the head and released over his head with both hands it is a legal throw. Spin or no spin.
this is a change in the rules, right? my understanding is that it used to be that you couldn't have a dominant hand/arm on the throw. as a result, if there was spin, it was presumed there was a problem with the throw. now, it is only necessary that the ball come from behind the head and proceed over the head (as opposed to being on the side of the head). sidespin, by itself, doesn't tell you anything about this.
A long time ago (at least 8 years but probably more) the law used to say that one of the requiremets of a throw in was that the player 'use both hands with equal force'. At that time the referees were taught that if the ball spinned, then it was an ilegal throw because of 'no equal force'. The law today just has a requirement that the player 'uses both hands' That is interpreted to mean that both hands contibute to impart momemtum to the ball, but not necesarily in equal parts. Practically, as long as the player does not do a 'basketball style' throw (where one hand is behind the ball and the other on the side of the ball), that portion of the law is satisfied. There are special provisions on a memo (and I can not locate it right now) for players that do not have two hands. It basically says that if a player can not comply with the two hand requirement because of a physical imparment, that as long as the other requirements of the law are complied with, the throw in is legal.
Re: Re: throw-ins? that is what i thought, but many teams give the ref trouble when the ball spins out of his hands and will not shut-up about it throughout the entire game... cool. thanks for the clarification...
To my knowledge the FIFA/USSF Laws of the Game have never required equal force by both hands in a throw-in. There has never been an issue about spinning the ball. NFHS did have a rule requiring equal force by both hands until recently. This engendered the "too much spin" rule. However, aren't we spending too much effort to watch the throw when there are real and potential fouls going on in and around where the ball will land from the throw-in. Why do we make the throw-in so complicated when it is so simple? Yes, egregious errors in the mechanics need to be addressed, but I have to say that I am as liberal on allowing imperfections in throw-ins as anyone can be. Let them play. Who wants a throw-in contest!
A throw-in is nothing more than a way to get the game going again. Nothing iritates me more than when I'm an AR and the CR keeps blowing the whistle for illegal throw-ins. My standard rule-of-thumb when I ref is UNLESS they were trying to gain an unfair advantage I will mention in passing to the player something like "try to keep that foot down" or "Let's try to start the throw with the ball behind your head next time". As jc508 said "LET THEM PLAY!" When the coach or parent yells "He lifted up his foot" just yell back "TRIFLING!"...it'll confuse them long enough for you to get away! Scott
Re: Re: throw-ins? of course he does see wook, i figured despite my past experiences with other ref's i would ask everyone here and my past thoughts are correct, my throw-ins are fine. damn whiney players on the other teams...
Good point, Scott. We've all run into strange and incorrect interpretations of the LOTG. Part of life is adjusting to the referees' and bosses' interpretation of the game or the real-life situation.
I love Bigsoccer. I was hoping there was a thread on this topic and ... viola... or is it voila? Had a game yesterday where one of our guys did the 'ole "soft" throw-in to a guy standing 3 yards in front of him. Ball started behind his head, he slowly brings it forward and when it reaches about chin/chest level he "drops" it at his teammates feet. *tweeeet* CR gives the ball to the opposition on a foul throw. What I'm reading here seems to confirm my initial thinking, which is that there really is no rule violated by the "slow/soft" throw-in. It may not look pretty, but it's from behind the head, involves both hands, and is a continuous motion. Now, I know it's not a big deal, but it is a turnover. It's annoying. As others have stated, you shouldn't give the other team the ball on something as picky as that. --------------- Reminds me: To avoid having this call made, my college team used to have somewhat of a trick-play built in... Player one retrieves the out-of-bounds ball and then hands it to Player two. Player two waits for the retriever to run back into the field of play. The retriever makes sure he runs right by the thrower keeping his back to the thrower. The thrower than drills the retriever in the back (on the numbers), the ball comes right back to the thrower -- game on! It's not anything devious, it's just a way to get the play going as quickly as possible without having it whistled back. ----------- I'm in favor of having all throw-ins turned into Indirects. But hey, I'm crazy like that. cheers.
Something like this actually happened in the EPL recently. I can't remember who was involved, but a player took the throw in and played it off a retreating opposition players back then carried on playing.
Exactly. The problem with the way the throw-in rule is administered--in the context of the "soft" throw-in--is that it almost forces the player to throw the ball 7 or 8 yards. If you could just put the ball on the turf and knock it 2 yards... Game on.
A similiar play occurs in basketball, albeit rather infrequently... The deviation is when a defender decides to put his back to the man throwing the ball in-bounds (usually done under the basket/on the baseline). The person throwing the ball in can throw it off that guys backside and then carry-on with the play. Sorry for the OT, but I've seen some pretty hilarious plays along these lines...