While you were checking the rule book - the Final answer to the traveling violation

What is the definition of cheating within the game of basketball? If your man drives, and you hand check and the ref misses it, is that cheating? No, that was a foul that went uncalled. Obviously, your goal is to move your feet, but any good defender is going to risk the foul at times to recover when they get beat. That’s part of the game. If they call the foul, okay, but if they don’t, then great! That’s basketball.

 

You’re on offense. The defender reaches in and you use your non-dribbling hand to slap their hand away. Or the defender is tight to your body, so you use your off-hand to slightly push off for an open shot. Is that cheating? No, it’s a calculated risk. And the best players are great at taking these risks, because they know all they are risking is a foul.

 

When it comes to the travel call, this is especially important. Offensive moves out of the triple threat are increasingly evolving. And if we get really picky, most of them are a travel. The rules state that if the pivot foot picks up before the ball hits the floor, it’s a travel violation. Our You Tube site is flooded with people arguing about this topic, so I thought I would put my two cents in

 

Now, as players we need to know the rules. That’s important. But if we get too obsessed with the rules, we will handcuff our game. There are a lot of trainers out there who are what I call, “Basketball Purists.” They are constantly going to the basketball rulebook like it’s the Constiution. They feel that basketball is ruined, and the only answer is to bring back the earlier years when basketball was pure.  But personally, I fear for the players they train. They will get dominated in today’s game. Let me give an example.

 

Let’s go back to the 60’s and grab any wing player and put them in today’s game. I don’t care what you say; they would get locked down offensively. The overall game would be too fast, too physical, and the players too athletic. They would certainly need time to adjust. Now, take a player from today’s game and put them in the 60’s.  They would struggle too. Every dribble would be a carry; every move would be a travel. They would lead the league in turnovers…until they adjusted.

 

But we are talking about today’s game and whether we all like it or not, today’s game is not the game of the 60’s! If we want to get real picky, we can spend all day arguing about what is a travel and what is not. But what really matters is how well we can adjust to the officiating. If you do a move and the ref calls it a travel, guess what…adjust. Don’t do it again, or atleast don’t do it that way again.

 

The great players don’t limit their game to the rulebook; they adapt their game to the officiating. And if you don’t have more moves to pull out of the toolbox, guess what, you can’t adapt. That’s why I don’t split my hairs over what moves might be called a travel. To get an example, watch the video below.

 

In this move, my goal is to get the ball down before I pick up my foot. But I also know that if I can do the move quick enough, I have nothing to worry about anyway. Is it a travel? Well, that’s my calculated risk. I don’t mean to be cocky, but while you were checking the rulebook, I just scored two.