When to call a throw - what defines it?

Question
It's been a while since I was certified to ref (side out scoring days), but have been approached to ref a high level rec league. I watched a few matches and could not believe the no-calls on some prolonged power tips.

It used to be determined by 3 factors: 1) whether the ball rebounds cleanly from contact, 2) whether the attacker breaks their wrist during contact or 3) causes the ball to change direction during contact.

What I saw was clean by those standards, but contact started at an attack height above the net and continued to the net before release.  

What's the ruling as you understand it?

Answer
Good morning Mark and welcome to allexperts.com!  It's great to hear from you.

The "slam" in volleyball was already in vogue in 1985 when I started coaching.  In fact, even though I was a rookie at coaching (and even at volleyball!), I started training my MB's and "throw" to their left almost immediately.  Hey, if the refs weren't going to call it, we were going to do it.  And to this day, my MB's will slam to their left or right, ESPECIALLY when a team is playing a 6-up defense, and we can set the ball low.  Easy easy points!  In fact, for some girls, the "power tip" is their best shot.  

I've already called that one shot by three different names b/c different coaches and states and areas of the country call the "slamma-jamma" by different names.  There are even more, but I can't think of them at this moment.

As for your three criteria, I like them, but have never seen them written out this way.  I've been reading the NF rule book for 25 years and have been reading the USAV rule book for nearly 20, and have never seen that list before.  

Now, to your question:  After watching it, coaching it and reffing it all these years, here's where the power slam is.  If the contact happens quickly, if the there is no throwing moment from the elbow or wrist, then it's not a lift.  The majority of refs don't take into account the distance the ball travels while in contact with the hand, b/c if the slamma-jamma occurs very very quickly, then the distance is almost unobservable.  But, if the wrist bends backwards, if the wrist snaps and/or the elbow bends (heck, that's the dictionary definition of a throw!), if the slam occurs slowly (prolonged contact), then we call it a lift.  In other words, if the slack a ref gives the slammer is taken advantage of, then we call it a lift.  

Regardless, you call the game the way you think the rule book specifies.  No, of course we don't referee to make a point, or to start a trend that we believe will change the entire world, etc.  I just recommend that you tell the speaking captains, "Many of the slams I've seen recently I consider to be lifts.  I can't help it, that's who I am.  And the rule book, in fact, tells me I'm right!  So, when I call them, I'm calling the game the way I have read the rule book.  Don't get upset. Just adjust."  

Yes, us refs can say things like that at the pre-match meeting.  I do it.  For example, coaches who fuss at me are bothersome, BUT assistant coaches berating me really irritates me.  So at the pre-match meeting, i usually say, "Coaches, your assistants are just that:  Assistants.  They have no authority to talk to me, fuss with me, etc. And I will not be patient with it.  They also have no power to call timeouts, make subs, etc.  Keep them under control, or your team will be given a yellow."  

Of course, you can always do the opposite and call the other 99% of the game the way you normally would, yet let those power slams go, b/c that's what all the teams in the league are accustomed to.   Hmmmmmmm.  Interesting dilemma you're in, huh?  But I have decided on certain days to ignore certain paragraphs of the rule book.  When I ref middle school matches, I call very few doubles on the setters.  Yes, I call obvious lifts, and horrible double, but I'm not going to stop the game every 3 minutes to call a double on a 12 year old female setter.  I also don't call an overlap unless the girls continue to do after I take 5 seconds to fix it once or twice.  

I hope this helps some.  I don't know if I've been clear on something so subjective and often so personal to each individual referee.

Thank you again for visiting!  I hope you have time to visit www.coachhouser.com where you'll see hundreds of free downloads and hundreds of smiling faces!  

Chat soon!
Coach Houser


p.s. "High level rec league"?  In this area, that's an oxymoron. haha  Around here, rec is jungle ball, slop ball. That's like "low intensity Stanford vs. Penn State"  No such thing.