Re: New FAQ: In or Out? Ball Compression and the Sideline

[Todd <tdh@vbref.org>]

bruno@cerberus.csd.uwm.edu (Bruno Wolff III) writes:
> From article <wgsyajfpdf8.fsf@shell-2.enteract.com>, by Todd <tdh@vbref.org>:
> > The LJ's should make no assumptions about compression.  They should
> > call what they see.  The line judge either _sees_ the ball touch the
> > line, or he does not.
> 
> If a ball lands close to a line and you can't see the point of
> contact because the ball is screening you then what are you supposed
> to do? Would you rather line judges say they have no call or should
> they make a best guess? If they try to make a best guess how should
> they judge whether the ball landed in or out based on their view of
> the top of the ball relative to the sideline?

I'd encourage the line judges to make their best guess, and sell their
decision.  If I have a substantially different view of the line
contact as R1, the R1 reserves the right to overrule.

In practice, the line judge will seldom be screened from this
contact.  If the ball land very close to the line judge, they may be
screened slightly by the top of the ball, but will still be able to
make an informed decision on what they saw.  

Also, the closer the ball is to the line judge, the farther it is from
the first referee who can overrule the LJ's call if the obscurity of
the actual line contact caused the LJ to make the wrong call.

--
                  Todd H.   tdh@vbref.org
USAV Regional Referee, Great Lakes Region, Palatine, IL
Todd's Volleyball Referee Page http://www.io.com/~tdh/vball/
"So you're a Ref and an engineer? Oh that explains it...."