[Justin P]

Thanks for the concise answers.

The last follow up to Q2/Q3, would a captain off the field be right in suggesting a larger advantage after a pick or clarifying that the defender catches up instead of the cutter returning to the spot of the uncontested pick? Or should this be left to the involved players and players on the field, right or wrong?

[Justin P]

The confusion I saw arose when a defender without a view of the disc heard the thrower call a foul on a deep throw. Since the throw took 3-4 seconds to arrive to its destination, there was no “play on” called immediately, so the defender stopped and turned to see what had happened. His person, meanwhile, moved downfield unobserved in anticipation of the catch, so when “play on” was called an advantage of 10-15m had been created.

The correct action for the defender in this case when hearing the foul call is to continue playing until the offense tells him to stop?

PS. Cool to see you on screen in Cali. How do you think having an official rules guru in attendance helped/affected the calls and resoluations at the tournament?

[Justin P]

OK, that clarifies it a bit more. And a blocking foul can’t be called by the defender because that only applies when the person is actively blocking an attempt at the disc while their teammate catches it, but not when they do it passively (or by coincidence)?

[Justin P]

OK, so then it’s essentially impossible to call a pick once the disc is in the air?

At what point does the defender stop guarding his man and start making a play the disc? Does the type of cut matter (i.e., if the disc is in the air on a small, tightly covered dump cut and another player gets between the defender and his atacker/the disc, that’s not a pick?)

Thanks

[Justin P]

OK, thanks for your quick response. That sounds about right, I guess. A lot of times it’s tough to assume responsibility for contact if you feel like you were hit by someone with better perspective of the play (when you may have in fact been running blindly). By this interpretation, the correct thing to do is to risk losing the disc by taking a moment to assess the surroundings and ensure your new path/actions won’t take you into another player.

One more clarification: at what point does a player’s prior actions/path establish a right to a space in further along their path?

For example, in the case of a floaty hammer to a stationary receiver. The poaching starts running towards the play and when he is about 3-4 steps away, the receiver realizes he’s misread the disc slightly, and takes a small step forward (or even just reaches their arms out) and receives the disc. At this point, the defender is 2 steps away and running at full speed. Does the defender have to avoid contact at all costs (despite being headed to the right spot already), or is the receiver making a dangerous play by readjusting to catch the disc (even though he’s essentially stationary and perhaps being unaware of the approaching defender)?

From the receiver’s point of view, they should be able to reach out and grab the disc since they’ll catch it first and it seems like the defender’s all out attempt is reckless since it can’t account for the last second adjustment. From the defender’s point of view, they read the disc correctly from the start and have already established their path to the spot when the receiver makes a sudden movement.

That’s it, then. Thanks again!