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What Is A Backcourt Violation?

Written by:  Ken Foster

January 8, 2009

The backcourt rule is defined as follows: A player shall not be the first to touch the ball after it has been in team control in the frontcourt, if he/she or a teammate last touched or was touched by the ball in the frontcourt before it went in the backcourt.  Once the team has established team control in the frontcourt, which occurs when the ball and both feet of the player are completely in the frontcourt, then any action by the offensive team which causes the ball to go into the backcourt becomes a backcourt violation if anyone on the team which had control touches it first.  If the ball is deflected into the backcourt by a member of the defensive team, then the offensive team may enter the backcourt to retrieve the ball without penalty.

An easy way to think of the backcourt violation is to consider the act of going out of bounds.  Essentially, once the team has established team control in the frontcourt, the half court line becomes the backcourt line and the backcourt becomes out of bounds for that team.  Unless of course, a member of the defensive team has deflected the ball into the backcourt.  For the offensive team, once they have established team control in the frontcourt the playing area on the court effectively is cut in half.

The important thing to keep in mind is that team control in the front court is established when the ball and both feet of the player are completely in the front court (or if passed when the ball crosses into the frontcourt and is caught by a player in the frontcourt).  The referee looks for all three things – foot #1, foot #2, and the ball.  The direction the player is facing isn't important.  For example, it is legal for a player to come across the half court line with his/her back towards the basket that they are shooting at and have both of their feet into the front court but have not yet brought the ball into the front court (i.e. they are still dribbling the ball in the backcourt).  So following this through, in that situation where the player’s two feet are in the frontcourt and the dribble is still in the backcourt, the player could move his/her feet back into the backcourt legally since by not bringing the ball into the front court, they have not yet established team control in the frontcourt.  Similarly, if in that scenario, they have both feet in the frontcourt and the ball is being dribbled in the backcourt still, if they pick up their dribble and hold the ball (remember both feet are now in the frontcourt) they have then established team control in the frontcourt and lose the ability to go back into or dribble the ball in the backcourt.  Remember, the key to the violation is that all three have to be established in the front court; the ball and both feet.

While it takes three things to establish control in the front court, it only takes one thing to trigger a backcourt violation.  A backcourt violation occurs if the player with the ball steps on or over the backcourt line as one of the three (his/her foot or feet) would now be considered to have gone into the backcourt after establishing team control in the frontcourt.  Likewise, a backcourt violation occurs if the player with the ball dribbles the ball on or over the backcourt line as one of the three (in this case – the ball) would now be considered to have gone into the backcourt after establishing team control in the frontcourt.

Do you have a rule that you would like clarified?  If so, submit your question to Ken Foster at kenfos@comcast.net