I have been playing netball for 30 years and have been having trouble of late with being called for falling in (am defence). I am not moving my feet, am still leaning over the ball and have not made contact with ball or shooter. They are getting the shot off and still my feet haven't moved. Umpire tells me I am starting to fall, i pointed out that my feet haven't move and she agrees but says I am starting to fall in. My point being at what point does a defence action stop being 'leaning " and begin to be "falling" if feet haven't moved....... I feel this particular umpires interpretation is too subjective and actual has no logic..... Have rules changed and I have missed something. Can not find any mention in rules for being penalised if I "lean" to far over ball, as long as I am 3 feet and not contacting ball or player and not obstructing her face with my hand??????

 

As long as you are not contacting, marking the face, moving your feet closer or shortening your distance then you seem to be doing the right thing. It is accepted now that even if you fall in and you move closer than 0.9 that as long as you immediately bring your arms down and do not interfere with the shooting action then no rule has been broken.

An umpire needs to take into account whether intimidation or interference has taken place if it hasn't, then however close a person is as long as the other player is not hindered then there shouldn't be a problem.

One thing i will say is that players are often hyper sensitive to a particular situation and it seems to stick in their mind. This however in defence of the umpire is not reciprocated. I would say that an umpire with regard to something like this has a very short memory and possibly won't rememeber the incident unless it becomes persistant.

My advice, do what you are doing in talking to the umpire in a non confrontational manner. Player education and umpire interpretaions are the key to the development of this game.

Thanks for your reply, it has been very helpful.

Umpires often call what they EXPECT to happen, or what they THINK they see.  In this case, if she calls obstruction for "falling in" and you truly haven't moved a foot into the 0.9m distance, it's a hysterical and wrong call.  You actually have to land either (A) with your arm still up or (B) too close for the shooter to actually move.

It sounds similar to the annoying event of the whistle going while the defender is still in the air for landing too close - jumping from a correct distance but the umpire calling obstruction before it occurs.  Unfortunately players have to be aware that obstruction is an over-called rule by umpires, stepping and 3 seconds are very inconsistent, and a few rules like delaying play and replay are under-called.