5m on the Free Hit Inside the Dotted Line | How to Apply the Rules of Hockey |

[@tonyhall699]

In that last segment the attacker was clearly within 5 metres and he dribbled straight into the the D, so didn't travel 5 meters, so why wasn't the whistle blown and a free hit given to the defenders?

[@FHumpires]

Because the umpire missed it?

[@jordy46682]

Hi! I have a question and annoyingly the rules are a little bit ambiguous. What happens if the attacker takes the free hit and passes the ball to another player outside of the D but the ball enters and exits the D without being touched and certainly with no intent to play the ball into the D... The rules only cover that you can't "play" the ball into the D, but in this case technically it's not. If they wanted to remove any doubt, why doesn't the rule just say, ball cannot enter the D at all before first traveling 5m... Thanks for any insight!

[@FHumpires]

Hey Jordan, I'm not sure I'm picking up what you're puttin' down here...when does the ball "enter and exit the circle without being touched"?

[@jordy46682]

@@FHumpires thanks for your reply! Apologies that I didn't explain it clearly enough! 😅 So there is a free hit just outside of the D on the right side. The player passes the ball to a player to their left at the top of the circle. The ball crosses the line of the D and travels inside the D without interference from any players before exiting the D and being received by the player outside of the D. So that's my question, the ball was not deliberately played into the D or caused any action by any player within the D and it wasn't touched until it was outside of the D. If the rules specifically said, "ball must not enter the D before traveling 5m" that would be clear. But it says must not be "played" and in my viewpoint this was an undeliberate act as the ball was "played" to someone outside of the D. I hope that makes sense?

[@FHumpires]

@@jordy46682 Yes, that makes more sense. Technically, that is playing the ball into the circle because "playing the ball" is defined as "moving the ball with the stick"--no intent, passing recipient, or anything else required. Would love to break it down more but it's definitely one for the Discord server: fhumpires.com/ds 😊

[@jordy46682]

@@FHumpires thanks so much for the answer and for the discord server link! My school hockey coach was Andy Mair (I guess you know the name! ;) ) But I've been pestering him recently a bit too much so I'm happy to have found your content as of course it's difficult to *trust" other people's viewpoints when you know someone who basically lived and breathed the rules at the highest level! 😅 Thanks again and see you in the chat!

[@FHumpires]

@@jordy46682 Yes, Andy and I are old friends (in both senses of the word 😉) and I doubt he’d mind much pestering…but I am the one who actively seeks out being pestered! Glad you’ve found the community and I look forward to seeing you around with more questions!

[@pacoraye8866]

Hockey rules are becoming more and more confusing...

[@FHumpires]

I’ve been at hockey for more than 35 years, and I disagree. The rules have always been confusing without making an effort, but I consider that a feature not a bug!