USA Ultimate

What's the Call? (Establishing a Pivot)

 

BY: Peri Kurshan, chair of UPA Standing Rules Committee.

As players of a self-officiated sport, it is our responsibility to know the rules.  This column features answers to your rules questions and clarifies common misconceptions about the rules.   

Q: If you catch the disc after a layout, are you allowed to throw before standing up? Don’t you need to have a pivot foot before you can throw?

A: Actually, the rules don’t specify which part of your body can or cannot be your pivot: “II. M. Pivot: The particular part of the body in continuous contact with a single spot on the field during a thrower’s possession once the thrower has come to a stop or has attempted a throw or fake.”

So as long as there is just one part of your body that remains in contact with the ground between the time that you come to a stop and when you release the disc – be that part of your foot or your belly, and no matter how small that part is – that’s your pivot.
The rule does require you to set your pivot as soon as you either come to a stop after catching the disc, or throw a fake (the latter clause making it illegal to “fake on the run”, that is, once you’ve thrown a disc fake, taking any additional steps, although potentially legal otherwise, are now illegal).

On a related note, the rule that says that moving your pivot is a travel has a notable exception: if you do end up on the ground, you’re allowed to lose contact with your pivot in order to stand up, as long as you then reset your pivot in the same location (regardless of whether you’ve thrown any fakes; XVI.J.2.a).

Q: If you are walking the disc back from out-of-bounds or from in the end zone, can the marker begin stalling you before you establish a pivot?

A: It depends. If you are walking the disc to the line after a turnover (for example, the other team just threw it out of bounds or overthrew their receiver in the end zone, and you’ve just picked up the disc to put it back in play), then the answer is no (XIV.A.2), unless you’ve exceeded the time limit or are in violation of the delay of game rule. In these situations the new marker can pre-stall you (that is, count down from 10 or 20 seconds indicating the amount of time you have left to put the disc into play; XIII.A.3), or they can issue a delay of game warning if you’re taking more time than is necessary (XIII.A.5), but they can’t begin the stall count until after doing one of these things.

However, if a receiver catches the disc inbounds, the marker can initiate a stall count as soon as the receiver catches the disc – the marker does not need to wait for the receiver to set a pivot – even if the receiver’s momentum carries him out of bounds or into the end zone. In this latter situation, the marker must simply be within 3 meters of the spot where the disc is to be put into play in order to
begin the stall count (XIV.A.2 and II.K).

Q: Do you need to wait for a check after a pull?

A: No. After a pull the disc is either in play, if you’ve caught the pull in bounds, or live if the pull was allowed to land on the ground. In either case, the disc is not dead, and therefore no check is needed before play can begin (II.R). However, if you are putting the disc into play at a spot other than where you gained possession of the disc (for example, if you have picked up an out-of-bounds disc and will be putting it in play at the brick mark or the sideline), then you must touch the disc to the ground before starting play (VIII.B.10). This “ground touch” still does not require any acknowledgement by the defense, and therefore is not a check. Failure to perform a ground touch is in fact a travel. However, this violation must be called immediately, and if, as often occurs, the marker taps the disc in and starts the stall count, he cannot then later on call a travel on the thrower for having failed to perform a ground touch!

This column appeared in the Spring 2009 issue of USA Ultimate.