'06 Rules Updates from the Convention

[laxfan25]

Convention Updates on new rules:
The biggest changes this coming season will be in the faceoffs and flag-down situations;
Faceoffs:
1) Players will be directed to come down to the ball together. If one player is lagging, the ball will be awarded to the other team. This is because the feeling is that the second man in has an advantage.
2) Players should assume a legal position; ball centered on the head, hands off the plastic, stick vertical, both hands wrapped around the crosse and on the ground, everything left of the head, etc., when they come down for the faceoff. There will be little or no warnings given if you're not in legal position, the ball will just be awarded the other way.
3) NEW THIS YEAR - gloves cannot be touching the center line, which will increase the space between the ball and the sticks.
4) NEW THIS YEAR - no "set" call. Once the players are down and motionless, you will get the whistle, very quickly.
5) We were asked to be more consistent in when the whistle is blown. This is a big change from the past, where we were instructed to vary the cadence ever so slightly, to avoid players anticipating the whistle.

We were told that all of these changes were designed to "clean up the faceoff". *Editorial comment* To me, it's hard to see how eliminating the Set, and being consistent with when you blow the whistle is going to improve things. With the "set" call, there was a moment when you had to be legal and completely stop moving. By varying the cadence slightly, you could see if someone was "jumping the whistle". Until this is put into wide practice, I think we're going to see more variance from ref to ref, and the tendency is going to be for players to be doing rolling starts. It'll be interesting!

Flag Down Slow Whistle Situations
The other big change, which some teams used in the fall, but many did not, involves flag down slow whistle situations.
Now, when there is a FDSW, the offended team, if they maintain possession on the foul outside the box will continue to play, just like they always have. If possession is lost outside the box, there will be an immediate whistle.
The difference is once the ball is in the attack box, there should be no stoppage of play unless the ball leaves the box, the D gains possession, the ball goes out of bounds, a goal is scored or the offended team commits a foul. This will take some getting used to by the officials, since we're so much in the habit of whistling as soon as the ball hits the ground. Note to other officials: A technique was presented that says as soon as you see a FDSW, take the whistle off your finger and put it in the palm of your hand. That way when your instinct is to blow it, you'll think twice before doing so. Great idea!
The other big change, which has been discussed, is that Any technical foul committed by the offending team during the FDSW (with possession OR even with a loose ball) will automatically become time-serving. This is a change from the normal call on a loose ball technical. As others have noted, this is a big advantage now for the attack. The thinking behind this is that the defense, if there was a loose ball during the continuing slow whistle, would have been encouraged to simply push an attack player from the back to draw a whistle without any penalty for doing so. Now there is a significant price to pay for that violation.

I'm writing this from memory. There may be a few other changes that will be posted as I look over my notes. (I also thought this would be enough to get some interesting discussions started!)[/b]

[James Foote]

I agree with you on the consistent whistle. Sounds a lot like the MLL. Should be interesting to see how it works out. Did you happen to get a feel for rules that might possibly be adopted in the future (i.e. shot clock, etc.)?

[laxfan25]

I agree with you on the consistent whistle. Sounds a lot like the MLL. Should be interesting to see how it works out. Did you happen to get a feel for rules that might possibly be adopted in the future (i.e. shot clock, etc.)?

There was no mention of any upcoming potential changes, only the actual new stuff for this year.

[Ken Lovic]

Does the team that was fouled keep possesion (penalty not reported yet) if a shot is taken during a FDSW and they earn the ball on the endline between the restraining line box lines? Hope this makes sense, or is that considered "out of bounds" and FDSW is now off and penalty administered....

[laxfan25]

Does the team that was fouled keep possesion (penalty not reported yet) if a shot is taken during a FDSW and they earn the ball on the endline between the restraining line box lines? Hope this makes sense, or is that considered "out of bounds" and FDSW is now off and penalty administered....

On a shot, even off the endline in the box, and even with the defense being closest, the FDSW will be ended and the offended team is awarded the ball on the restart. Since there was a penalty assessed, the restart should take place outside the box, even if the shot went off the endline in the box.

[Tim Gray]

Was there word on when an official release regarding these would come out, or has that already happened?

[laxfan25]

Was there word on when an official release regarding these would come out, or has that already happened?

Yes, these are all contained in the '06 rulebook, which thankfully was released very early this year.
I was going to suggest going to USLacrosse.org or zlax.net, since both have links to a PDF of the rulebook. However, both are still linked to the 2005 book. I then went to www.ncaa.org and registered there, and also found that you can do the same thing without registering.
Go to www.ncaa.org
On the Legislation and Governance menu - go to Rules and Bylaws
On that screen, go to Legislative Tools on the menu on the right, and select Sports Playing Rules
On that page, click on Spring Sports, and you can see where you can download the rulebook at no cost.
It may be worth spending a few bucks on a printed copy, so at least you'll sound a little more knowledgeable when you try to question a ruling on the field! (Most likely you'll still be wrong, since we spend HOURS learning all of these arcane items )

[Sonny]

Here is a direct link to the PDF version of the 2006 NCAA rulebook:
http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2006/ ... _rules.pdf

(This link is also in the top post on Forum Guidelines at the top of this forum.)

[laxfan25]

Here is a direct link to the PDF version of the 2006 NCAA rulebook:
http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2006/ ... _rules.pdf

(This link is also in the top post on Forum Guidelines at the top of this forum.)

Much easier - thanks!

[shrekjr]

Since there was a penalty assessed, the restart should take place outside the box, even if the shot went off the endline in the box.

Hmmm, hadn't thought about that.

So if the ball goes out on the end line during normal play, restart is on the end line, but if during FDSW, then restart is outside the box because of the penalty?

Here's another one....

The new rule this year is if a team calls timeout, restart is at the spot of the ball when the timeout was called...could be very interesting if a team calls timeout right in front of the goal. Do they get the usual 5 yard protection?

[laxfan25]

Since there was a penalty assessed, the restart should take place outside the box, even if the shot went off the endline in the box.

Hmmm, hadn't thought about that.

So if the ball goes out on the end line during normal play, restart is on the end line, but if during FDSW, then restart is outside the box because of the penalty?

Here's another one....

The new rule this year is if a team calls timeout, restart is at the spot of the ball when the timeout was called...could be very interesting if a team calls timeout right in front of the goal. Do they get the usual 5 yard protection?

Yes, so it would be just like a penalty shot in soccer or hockey - one on one with the goalie! Just kidding, but I brought up that very point at the convention. The general consensus was that if the timeout was called in front of the goal line, that the restart would take place towards the side of the box.
This issue arose more from timeouts called on the endline, inside the box. Before, you would take the player out of the box for the restart. Now they can restart inside the box on the endline. I don't think it was the rule rewriters' idea to give you a timeout on the crease when you're about to get sandwiched, and get the restart with everyone five yards away.
(Hmm, let's see. The crease is 3 yards in radius, so if I'm right on the crease when I call timeout, even the goalie's got to get out of the way. I don't think even I could miss that shot!)
As I said, I don't believe that was the spirit of the rewrite, and we'll probably see a clarification after the first time a coach tries that in a game, if not before.

As far as the restart outside the box after a penalty, that has always been the rule, so there's no change there.

[shrekjr]

As I said, I don't believe that was the spirit of the rewrite, and we'll probably see a clarification after the first time a coach tries that in a game, if not before.

I agree about not being in the spirit. Once again, we have a new rule without covering obvious what-ifs. I certainly hope this gets addressed BEFORE the season, not after it happens. Otherwise, I'm going to have a hard time selling it either way to the coach that won't be happy.

[LaxRef]

I agree about not being in the spirit. Once again, we have a new rule without covering obvious what-ifs. I certainly hope this gets addressed BEFORE the season, not after it happens. Otherwise, I'm going to have a hard time selling it either way to the coach that won't be happy.

This is my fault. It says:

(Exception: On a timeout or an out of bounds on the endline, the ball restarts inside the attack area at the spot where the ball was when play was suspended.)

This should be parsed as "(On a timeout or an out of bounds) on the endline" as opposed to "On (a timeout) or (an out of bounds on the endline)." I've asked that they sent out a bulletin with the phrasing "On a timeout on the endline or an out of bounds on the endline. . . ."

[shrekjr]

This should be parsed as "(On a timeout or an out of bounds) on the endline" as opposed to "On (a timeout) or (an out of bounds on the endline)." I've asked that they sent out a bulletin with the phrasing "On a timeout on the endline or an out of bounds on the endline. . . ."

I can buy this, but I was having a lot of fun coming up with plays to get the ball in front the goal then calling timeout.

Hopefully, TPTB will take your recommendation to get the bulletin out quickly. We have our COC meeting this weekend and start games on the 28th.

[laxfan25]

I agree about not being in the spirit. Once again, we have a new rule without covering obvious what-ifs. I certainly hope this gets addressed BEFORE the season, not after it happens. Otherwise, I'm going to have a hard time selling it either way to the coach that won't be happy.

This is my fault. It says:

(Exception: On a timeout or an out of bounds on the endline, the ball restarts inside the attack area at the spot where the ball was when play was suspended.)

This should be parsed as "(On a timeout or an out of bounds) on the endline" as opposed to "On (a timeout) or (an out of bounds on the endline)." I've asked that they sent out a bulletin with the phrasing "On a timeout on the endline or an out of bounds on the endline. . . ."

Am I correct though that the Federation book doesn't have that nice out for us. It says "Section 29 Restarts Following a Timeout - All restarts following a timeout must be as close as possible to the spot where the ball was at the time play was stopped". Fortunately I think our buddy Shrek is playing under NCAA in Texas HS - correct? For us Fed users, the out will be "the spot I'm putting it back in play from is as close as I think is possible..."