Scott McClellan

Let's talk penalty hinders. This picture is an illustrative example scenario. It's Landa's turn to hit the ball, and Carson is in front of him, moving to the left. Landa holds up on the shot. What's the call?

Here's my flow for how to call this one:
1. Is the ball gettable? Yes, easily. Landa is ready to make contact with the ball.
2. Would the racquet contact the other player before hitting the ball? No. Carson is in front of the ball, Landa's racquet has a clear path to strike the ball.
3. Is the other player impeding the straight-in or cross-court shots? No. Carson is just cleared of the cross-court shot to the left (the one that would hit the front wall and travel directly to the back-left corner), and the straight-in to the front wall is open.

But if Landa swings, he'll hit Carson! Yes that's true. By the book, holding up here would be a 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿, which is a 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲. If a player swings through and strikes the other player 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 striking the ball, that will 𝐧𝐨𝐭 result in a hinder. It's simply a sign that the defender was crowding the offensive player.

What do you think? How would you react to your opponent holding up in this situation? Should our rulebook be more technical or allow for gray areas?

Here's a link to the rally in context:
- https://youtu.be/mR8mEvb2O7Q?t=3680

Here we go! New season, new gear, new focus. Thank you to my sponsor, ProKennex Racquetball! First tournament of the season is next weekend in Atlanta, GA.

Big day of reffing today; one match down, four to go. Watch online on Facebook (International Racquetball Tour) or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/internationalracquetballtour