By Referee – September 2, 2024
If it looks like a muff, it can’t be anything but a muff, right? Well, not necessarily.
Both rule codes make it clear a muff is a positive act — a failed attempt to catch or recover a loose ball (NFHS 2-27; NCAA 2-11-2).
In order to muff the ball, it must be touched. Touching differs from a muff in that touching may be unintentional and may result from being touched by the ball (NFHS 2-44; NCAA 2-11-4). Batting — the intentional striking of the ball with the hand or arm — is another type of touching. As with a muff, a bat is an intentional act (NFHS 2-2; NCAA 2-11-3).
Three different definitions, yet an act by a player may meet more than one of those criteria.
For instance, the player in the PlayPic may be batting, muffing or touching the ball. If he is a team R player, the ball is loose as the result of a kick and he intentionally made contact with the ball, he has touched and muffed the ball. If he struck the ball, he muffed, touched and batted the ball.
Why is that important? Officials need to know which of those acts has occurred so they can rule on subsequent action. If the ball is muffed, it may or may not become dead upon recovery, same as if it is touched. If the ball is batted, it may be a foul, depending on where the bat occurs, the direction the ball is batted, the type of loose ball involved and which team did the batting.
Knowing whether the ball has been muffed, touched or batted is a must, as is knowing how those acts differ and how they are defined.
