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Center
Court Hinders
Question
I play with
several partners and we are all B level or better. One member has a
playing style where he moves aggressively to the center court after he
hits. Most of the time this is fine but when he hits a poor shot (i.e.
he leaves the ball up and in the center off the back wall, this
technique blocks his opponent from having a clear shot at the frontwall.
He argues he was in his spot before the opponent played the ball. What's
your opinion? Is it an avoidable hinder?
- Neil Williams, Willimantic, CT
Response
A rule of thumb
for hinders is that you are required to give the person shooting enough
area for a down
the line and a crosscourt pass. Otherwise it is an avoidable hinder.
Your friend needs to move and clear at least two passing lanes, in
addition to both corners because of his poor shot. His argument that he
was there before the opponent played the ball is incorrect. If he hits a
poor shot through the middle, he is required to vacate that area and
allow his opponent a fair play on the ball.
This happens to me
from time to time when I hit a bad ceiling ball that comes off the back
wall and I will lift a foot or jump to let my opponent shoot. If my
opponent shoots and hits me it is a hinder on me (do over). If I don’t move it
is an
avoidable. An avoidable hinder is a hinder that take away an offensive
setup for the shooter and will result in the loss of the rally.
I am an 'A' player
and rarely need to call avoidable. At the 'B' level there are a lot of
people that hinder and crowd your shots and you
need to pick your battles. You should let your opponent know that he is
hindering your shot, but try not to be to nit picky about avoidables -
otherwise people will not want to
play with you. Just tell him that you want to play a fair game from both
perspectives and hopefully he will understand. I have attached the
official USRA rules for an avoidable hinder.
Tony Rulz
Rule 3.15 AVOIDABLE HINDERS
4
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