In basketball, a personal foul is a breach of the rules that concerns
illegal personal contact with an opponent. It is the most common type of
foul in basketball. A foul out occurs when a player exceeds his or her
personal foul limit for a game and is disqualified from participation in the
remainder of the game. Players routinely initiate illegal
contact to purposely affect the play, hoping it is seen as too minor to be
called a foul. The threshold is subjective and varies among officials
and from game to game. Most contact fouls are not regarded as
unsportsmanlike. However, a contact foul involving excessive or unjustified
contact is classed as an unsportsmanlike foul (or in the NBA, flagrant foul
History Basketball has always had the concept of
fouls. In 1891, James Naismith's original 13 rules defined a foul as:
running with the ball, holding the ball with the arms or body,
striking the ball with the fist, shouldering, holding, pushing, striking
or tripping in any way of an opponent. Only the fourth definition remains.
Running with the ball and striking it with the fist are now violations.
Holding the ball with the arms or body is now rare but legal.
Originally, on a player's second foul, the player would be removed without
substitution until the next successful goal. Before long, free throws were
introduced, originally worth three points each, then one. Originally, any
team member was allowed to shoot free throws. In 1924, the rules were changed
so that the fouled player shot the free throws.
The victim of a contact foul used to be given three attempts at a free throw,
and retained possession of the basketball. Now, a player fouled in the
act of shooting gets as many free throws as the point value of the shot he or she
attempted. Principles
Personal contact does not necessarily constitute a personal foul, unless it
gives a player an advantage or puts the opponent at a disadvantage.
= Cylinder= In FIBA, the cylinder principle gives
each player exclusive rights within an imaginary cylinder defined:
in the front by the palms of the hands, when the arms are bent at the elbows so
that the forearms and hands are raised, but no farther in front than the feet,
in the rear by the buttocks, at the sides by the outside edge of the
arms and legs. The cylinder extends from the floor to
the ceiling, allowing the player to jump upward.
A player can occupy any cylinder not already occupied by the opponent. No one
else is allowed to step or reach into this cylinder. A player must not extend
his limbs or bend his body in a way that is not normal. If there is a breach of
this principle that places the opponent at a disadvantage, the official may
penalise it. The NBA does not use the cylinder
principle to judge contact; it only says that a player may not bend or reach in a
position that is not normal. = Elements of time and distance=
The elements of time and distance concern the reaction time and distance
of another person. They apply only to players without the ball, not to the
ball carrier. For example, a player cannot suddenly step in front of a
sprinting player, even without invading the cylinder. Another example is when a
player sets a screen directly behind a player: the player would not physically
be able to react to the screen in enough time to avoid it.
Types of foul = Charging and blocking=
When significant illegal contact between the ball-carrier and a defender occurs,
it usually means that either — The defender committed a blocking foul,
or The ball-carrier committed the offensive
foul of charging. Deciding between the two is complex,
partly subjective, and often controversial.
Generally, the ball-carrier committed a charge if all of the following are true:
The defender was still, or moving sideways or backward but not forward,
when contact occurred. The defender took a legal guarding
position before the contact, that is, one with both feet on the floor.
The defender was hit on the torso. In the NBA, in contact during a move to
the basket, officials do not consider the position of the defender's feet, but
decide whether the defensive player's torso was set in position before the
offensive player began his upward motion.
A charging foul is not called if the ball-handler is within a 4-foot radius
around the center of the basket. That is, if the ball-carrier is under the
basket, the defense cannot restrict his or her movement by drawing a charge.
A related call is the player control foul.
Strategy Apart from using hands in neutral space
to shield or deflect a pass or a shot, the defender uses his or her body to
impede the ball-carrier's advance toward the basket. The defender's only absolute
way to achieve this is to stand directly in the ball-carrier's path and "draw a
charge." Short of this, the defender's use of the body may make the
ball-carrier hesitate or change tactics. Both opponents are restrained by their
desire not to commit a foul. It is not a foul to grab for the ball,
or to touch a hand of the ball-carrier that is on the ball, but the
ball-carrier, especially in the act of shooting, can easily cause greater
contact that is a blocking foul against the defender.
Once contact is made, the defender may fall to the ground to exaggerate the
force of the collision and induce a foul to be called. Overt deception is
disparagingly called a "flop" and is discouraged by the rules at every level
of basketball. Screening
A screen is an attempt by an offensive player to stop a defender from guarding
the ball-carrier. For example, John Stockton and Karl Malone were well known
for their pick and roll play. The ball-carrier's teammate is the screener;
he stands in the path of the defender as the ball-carrier dribbles past the
screener. This at least costs the defender time, and may induce a
collision. Either leaves the ball-carrier unguarded. However, if the
screener moves towards the ball-carrier when contact occurs, or does not respect
the elements of time and distance, or initiates contact, he is charged with
illegal screening or setting a moving pick. These are blocking fouls.
= Other fouls on the ball-carrier= In the NBA, the ball-carrier cannot
attempt to dribble past a defender where there is not enough space, such as
dribbling between a defender and either a boundary or another defensive player.
If the ball-carrier has space to put head and shoulders past the defender,
then the defender is responsible. In FIBA, this rule is not codified, but
contact caused by the dribbler is still penalized.
= Fouls away from the ball= The rules are symmetrical for contact
between offensive and defensive players not involving the ball-carrier. Any
player has the right to a position on the court legally acquired. A player
acquiring a position that will impede an opponent must respect the elements of
time and distance; that is, not take a position so close, or so quickly, that
the opponent cannot avoid contact. This includes gradually slowing down after
running with the opponent, and situations where the opponent is
shielded from seeing the player's movement.
= Other personal fouls= Pushing
Contact that displaces an opponent. Holding
Contact that interferes with a player's freedom of movement.
Illegal Use of Hands Extending the hands outside the cylinder
and causing illegal contact. Hand Checking
Contact by the defense on a ballhandler that impedes a player's speed,
quickness, rhythm, and/or balance. Illegal Use of Elbow
Moving one's elbow outside the cylinder to disadvantage an opponent. This mostly
occurs during a post-up play situation, where either offense or defense attempt
to gain a better position. Illegal Use of Legs, Knees(On Dunk)
Jumping up with one knee forward as to intentionally hit the defender
= Non-foul= Referees who called every case of
illegal player contact would dominate the game to the exclusion of the
athletes, but reluctance to make calls would make the game excessively violent.
The rules direct referees to seek a balance between these extremes, though
they do not define it. When players are competing for a ball
that goes out of bounds, and one player commits illegal but minor contact,
referees often do not feel a foul is justified but resolve the situation by
simply awarding possession of the ball to the other team.
The "reach-in foul" is a misnomer. Reaching toward a player is not a foul,
though physical contact may be a foul. Penalties
The official scorer records the foul in two counts of fouls on the scoresheet:
As a player foul against the offending player during the game. A player who
accumulates too many fouls will foul out.
As a team foul against the offending player's team during the current quarter
or half. A team that accumulates too many fouls in that period enters the
penalty situation and puts the other team into the "bonus." In college
basketball, another, higher number of team fouls gives the other team a
"double bonus" regarding the number of free throws.
On a foul committed by the defense, if the team committing the foul is in the
penalty situation or the fouled player was in the act of shooting, the fouled
player is awarded free throws. Otherwise, and on offensive fouls, the
fouled player's team is awarded possession of the ball to pass inbounds
from the out-of-bounds point nearest to the foul. The shot clock is reset.
In some rulebooks, such as that of FIBA, a technical foul is included in the
count of player fouls. If the game goes to overtime, counts of
player fouls are not reset, but each overtime period has its own count of
team fouls. = Strategy=
Fans and commentators often call an infraction a "good foul," such as when
the foul is against a player who would otherwise have made a sure basket. By
fouling the player and preventing an easy two points, the defender forces the
offensive player to "earn" the two points from the free throw line.
However, if the foul does not prevent the player from scoring, the basket is
counted and the fouled player gets an additional free throw.
After the fouled player shoots free throws, the team that was on defense is
likely to gain possession of the ball. This is by award, if the final free
throw was made. Even if it is missed, defensive players can occupy better
positions at the side of the lane to get the rebound.
Near the end of the game, a team that is losing may purposefully foul offensive
players to stop the clock and regain possession of the ball, with the hope
that the player will miss his free throws. Coaches study free-throw
percentages, so that the defense will foul a ball carrier who is poor at
free-throw shooting. The "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy was famously practiced against
Shaquille O'Neal in view of his poor percentage. The defense is not free to
foul its choice of the five offensive players, as a foul "away from the ball"
results in free throws plus possession. Clear path fouls
In the NBA, it also results in free throws plus possession when the defense
commits a foul and the ball carrier is in the frontcourt with a "clear path" to
the basket. = Fouling out=
A player who commits five personal fouls over the course of a 40-minute game, or
six in a 48-minute game, fouls out and is disqualified for the remainder of the
game. A player within one or two fouls of fouling out is in "foul trouble."
Players who foul out are not ejected and may remain in the bench area for the
remainder of the game. Fouling out of a game is not a disciplinary action.
In the NCAA and FIBA, if a team is reduced to five players by injury or
ejection, and one of them commits a sixth foul or is ejected, play continues
with that team reduced to four players. In the NBA and WNBA, no team can be
reduced to four players, so such a player stays in the game. If another of
the five players is ejected or injured, the last player to foul out rejoins the
game. In these reinsertions, the team is assessed a technical foul. In addition,
any additional foul the player commits draws another technical foul. This
results in one or an extra free throw for the opponents, even if the player's
foul would not normally result in free throws.
This rule let Don Otten set the NBA record for personal fouls in a
regular-season game. He had eight fouls while playing for the Tri-Cities
Blackhawks against the Sheboygan Red Skins on November 24, 1949. The rule was
again invoked in a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers
on February 5, 2014. With the Lakers down to 5 players due to injuries, when
Robert Sacre fouled out, he remained in the game.
References External links
2008 NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Rules
International Basketball Federation. Official Basketball Rules 2004.
NBA Rule Number 12: Fouls and Penalties