Delay of Game Penalty
Comments about this discussion:
Started
In line with the discussion on time outs.
Do we think teams should be able to hit the ball out of the field on purpose to slow a game down? I have seen it (and used it) as a tactic before. But should this be encouraged?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_of_game_(ice_hockey)
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As of now we have the „intentional delay of the game“ as a reason for a 2-min send off and i am very much in favor, of leaving this as is. Allowing for hitting the ball out of the field on purpose would hinder the flow, lower the actual playtime, and would just be a overall very frustrating thing in my opinion.
I also think it's generally unsportsmanlike behavior, but opinions probably differ here.
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Currently "intentional delay of game" does not cover hitting the ball out on purpose. I think we should penalise for hitting the ball out on purpose, currently we do not do this. I have seen it used at unicons many many times.
I believe the intentional delay of game rules that we currently have are interpreted by referees more as if the referee is trying to start the game and someone hits the ball away from them on purpose or refuses to start or something. No referee is penalising players for hitting the ball out on purpose
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Penalise for hitting the ball out
Is there a difference between "to slow a game down" and "intentional delay of game" - I think YES.
Let's start with other examples for "to slow a game down" for tactical reasons (frustrating but legal play and not unsportsmanlike):
Hitting the ball as far away on the playing field and
waiting with the ball behind the goal (occasionally some referees judge this behaviar as "intentional delay of game").
It may be a little bit tricky with shooting the ball out over the corners or the side lines:
If this happens with aggression by the opponent team I have no problems with this behaviar. (A good referee has for such situations a spare ball with him and is able to restart the game within seconds!)
If this happens without aggression by the opponent team at least two times in short time I am close to "intentional delay of game" and I would give a 2-min punishment.
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Thanks for raising this discussion.
I think it would be beneficial to clarify the rules in this regard and potentially also more generally what "delay of game" is considered.
I have currently no strong opinion whether hitting the ball out of bounds should be penalised or not. A good referee would restart the game very quickly and thus the time lost would be minimal and ball possession would change, so no large benefit for hitting the ball out.
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A good referee starts a game back up reasonably quickly, but we were discussing using stop clock rules to ensure that time is not wasted at the end of a match when it matters. If that was seen as important I would think that stopping either team from repeatedly hitting the ball out of bounds would be important
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I would say on a 55m long court the game does not restart within seconds regardless of whether a referee has a ball with them.
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Let's assume we want to discourage hitting the ball out. What would the penalty be? A free shot is anyway already given, so we would need to add an additional penalty. I think there is only a 2min penalty left as an option. This is in my opinion with the current rules too harsh and not in relation to the other fouls that lead to a 2min.
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hmm. I take your point. That is quite true.
I guess when we have our first UNICON final with a 1 point lead and 2 minutes to go, and a team repeatedly hits the ball out on the full to run the time down, that will be the point where we will likely follow ice hockey and implement the rule. And at that point I feel a 2 minute penalty will feel like it is warranted.
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I was thinking a penalty where the ball was hit, not where it eventually went out could be a better result for the team who is fouled. I.e. if a defender wacks the ball down field and over the sideline, the ball is restarted where he hit it, not where it went out. But even then, you could probably get your forwards to hit it out instead. In ice hockey if you are penalised for anything the faceoff starts in your defending zone, So the puck is automatically brought back near your goal
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it should definitely not be encouraged. We could add that to the list of 2min penalty causes.
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Ok we have
2-3 in favour of it being against rules with the thoughts of it being an intentional delay of game 2 min penalty
1 in favour of repeated infringement being intentional delay of game 2 min penalty
1 undecided
I somewhat like Herbies opinion of repeated infringement being cause for penalty.
The icing rule was brought into ice hockey because teams repeatedly hit the puck downfield for most of a match to protect a lead.
I think stopping a team repeatedly hitting the ball out is more important so perhaps you would only penalise if a team had clearly done it on purpose multiple times?
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So far, I haven’t noticed intentional hitting of the ball out of bounds as a widespread issue. Of course, in some situations it may be used as a way to relieve pressure briefly – especially when a team is under heavy attack and needs a moment to regroup.
From a referee’s perspective, I also find it difficult to judge whether it was really intentional or not. If someone clearly and deliberately hits the ball out, that can be considered unsportsmanlike conduct and should be penalized.
However, I also remember a specific case where a player got injured. The referees didn’t stop the game at first because they didn’t consider the fall serious. To interrupt the game, the ball was deliberately hit out. In such a situation, a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior would not be appropriate in my opinion.
My main concern is that it’s often very hard for referees to clearly determine whether hitting the ball out was intentional. If we include this action explicitly as a reason for a two-minute penalty in the rules, there’s a high risk that it will lead to more penalties being called, even when there was no clear intention. This could cause unnecessary interruptions and frustration on the field.
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I have noticed in multiple times in close games in Unicon a games.
The player is facing the sidelines and scoops the ball up and out of the field of play perpendicular to the direction of the court. They did it when an attacker was coming near to them and they felt there was not an easy option to pass the ball to a teammate. it's always been at the end of the game and always when their team is winning
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I think we all agree that it should not be encouraged, however whether and to what extent it should be penalized is the hard question.
Currently, we have the rule "Intentional delay of the game is not permitted and may result in a penalty and the stoppage of time." This is not very specific. For now, it could be enough just add a sentence along the lines of:
Intentionally hitting the ball out of bounds is considered delay of game.
If this is too strict, we could rephrase to "... can be considered ...". But the latter would be in my opinion too vague.
As I already wrote, I have no strong opinion related to hitting the ball out of bounds. But I'm generally in favor of any clarification and specification of the rules, so I'm happy if this change supports that.