14B.9.1 Free Shot
Comments about this discussion:
Started
Before the Proposal deadlline increases we had the Discussion about a direct free shot. (see closed discussions)
I want to restart this discussion.
We had the chance to test the direct Free shot on a Tournament in Austria. During the tournament i tried to talk to as much people as possible to get thier feedback. Most of the teams and players are happy with the new rule.
To keep the rules simple we tested the following variant:
All fouls in the goal zone were executed as a normal corner following the current rules. All fouls outside the goal zone were allowd as a direct free shot (except long shots). The defending team had to keep a distance of 2m.
After this tournament i see the following things as a benefit for the game.
- There are much more tactical options to play the freeshot.
- The chance to score a goal is higher than the currant way. In my opinion that can halp to prevent fouls becaus it is more dangerous to get a goal. If there are less fouls it will help to make the sport safer.
- For the defending team its more dangerous to take a tactical foul during a counterattack. -> less fouls ->more safety
- Especially for the worse teams its easyer to score a goal with a direct free shot. At our tournament the weaker teams had more opportunities ti equalize the game. -> games will be more exciting.
My suggestion after this test the feedbacks of the teams and players and my own experience during the games as a goal keeper is the following rule change.
OLD:
The free shot is indirect. The player executing the free shot may only touch the ball
once until a contact by another player occurs. The ball shall be hit with the stick, not
dragged, icked or lifted on the stick. Opposing players must keep a distance with their
unicycles and their sticks of at least 2.0 m from the ball.
NEW:
The free shot can be played as a direct or indirect shot, subject to the long shot rule. (14B.7.2 Long Shot). The player executing the free shot may only touch the ball
once until a contact by another player occurs. The ball shall be hit with the stick, not
dragged, icked or lifted on the stick. Opposing players must keep a distance with their
unicycles and their sticks of at least 2.0 m from the ball.
Al fouls in the goal area will still be a corner with the curret rules.
Waht guys do you think about that?
Comment
Cool to see, that you were able to test it. I wonder how free shots at, say, 7 meters would be taken. Did you see some of those in the tournament? Did the whole defending team block the goal or have there been other tactics?
I'm asking because my main concern is the higher potential for bruising and injury, when people are able to hit a ball hard with basically unlimited preparation time and kinda close to the goal..
I do however see the positive points here, especially the fact that fouling becomes more dangerous.
I am not decided here.
Comment
I wont support direct shots on goal unless we abolish corners.
It seems to me that it is a worse outcome to receive a corner than it would to receive a direct free shot 6.6m in front of goal.
Being fouled 6.6m in front of goal is a good outcome, being fouled 6.4m in front of goal would be a terrible outcome. If my team was fouled I would ask the referee can I take a direct penalty 20cm further back rather than be forced to take a corner.
Comment
Previous discussion on direct free shot: https://iuf-rulebook-2025.committees.unicycling-software.com/discussions/32
Thanks Pascal for trying this out and for reporting your experience. The Swiss National Team also tested this during one training (in April I think) and it was generally perceived very well. We applied the adapted rules from floorball to prevent too large differences between a free shot and a corner:
The free shot shall be taken where the offence was committed, but never behind the imaginary extensions of the goal lines, or closer to a goal post than 3 m. A free shot behind the imaginary extension of the goal line shall be taken from the nearest corner point. A free shot closer to a goal post than 3 m shall be moved out to the distance of 3 m.
Could you @Steven support this rule?
@Herbie: Could you give some additional information in what kind of situation this incident with the eye occurred? This should never happen but I think it's also important to know how it happened.
Comment
I like the idea of removing corners for fouls given inside the 6.5-meter zone and using the 3-meter distance rule — even if we don’t change the direct/indirect shot rule.
I don’t really support the direct shot rule. Most of the time, it just encourages players to hit the ball as hard as they can at defenders from only 2 meters away. Good teams will use it to create smart tactics, but in B-League (about 50%) and in C-League (almost 100%) of players will probably just try to blast the ball through the defender and hope it goes in. Only teams that are evenly matched with their opponents and have good ball control will actually try to build a play from it.
For example, if Australia got a free shot against Swiss 1 (which probably won’t happen, haha), we wouldn’t be strong enough to pass the ball around and create a goal. If we’re only 4.5 meters from the goal and allowed to shoot directly, our best option is to just hit the ball as hard as possible and hope it gets through the defenders. There’s no reason for us to try a complicated pass — we’re just not good enough against a team like Germany or Swiss 1.
In a game against strong teams like that, we usually only have about 0.2 seconds to shoot before a defender takes the ball from us. This rule change gives us the only moment in the game where we can shoot hard without a defender blocking us right away.
Other weaker teams will probably do the same thing. Do you think my assessment is wrong and outmatched teams will try to create plays from direct free shots?
Comment
That’s a good point. As with a lot of these rules it’s tough because there’s such a wide chasm between elite teams that practice and refine plays and tactics, and the hobby teams (like us!) that tend to play by the seat of their pants. That’s why imo the timeout should only be applicable to knockout games, as lesser teams typically won’t really be able to utilize it in any meaningful way as a strategy. I like the idea of more 2 minute penalties being called for fouls to encourage power play type strategies instead of more situations where players can whack the ball at defenders. Although I don’t have strong feelings as I don’t know how it would actually play out in tournaments. I think the idea for direct shots would be kind of like soccer where there’s elaborate schemes to take and defend them, I just don’t know if it would work for this sport in the same way.