Rules Analysis
All players must attempt to avoid contact with other players, and there is no situation where a player may justify initiating contact. "Making a play for the disc" is not a valid excuse for initiating contact with other players.
A player can be deemed to be "making a play on the disc" (Rule 12.8) when the disc is in the air and they are attempting to make contact with the disc in anyway i.e. to catch it or block it. When making a play at a disc, players need to insure that they will not cause non incidental contact with another player (neither their stationary position, nor their expected position based on their established speed and direction), before, during or after the attempt at the disc. Non incidental contact is any contact that is either dangerous in nature or affects the outcome of a play, regardless of whether the contact occurred after possession was established. A breach affects the play if it is reasonable to assume that the outcome of the specific play may have been meaningfully different had the breach not occurred -- eg if the player would not have been able to intercept the pass without causing significant contact with their opponent, or the opponent would have been able to make a play at the disc had the player not caused contact with them. The relative skill, height and/or athletic ability, of the players involved should not typically be taken into account when considering if something affected the play or not. " Resting a hand on an opponent What A defender is resting a hand in their opponents back to enable them to know where their opponent is, even if they are not looking at them Result This is a violation. Why It is not necessarily a foul, but it is a violation of rule 12.8 that says "All players must attempt to avoid contact with other players, and there is no situation where a player may justify initiating contact".
All players must attempt to avoid contact with other players, and there is no situation where a player may justify initiating contact. This includes avoiding initiating contact with a stationary opponent, or an opponent’s expected position based on their established speed and direction. “Making a play for the disc” is not a valid excuse for initiating contact with other players.
A player can be deemed to be “making a play on the disc” (Rule 12.6) when the disc is in the air and they are attempting to make contact with the disc in anyway i.e. to catch it or block it.When making a play at a disc, players need to ensure that they will not cause non minor contact with another player (neither their stationary position, nor their expected position based on their established speed and direction), before, during or after the attempt at the disc.Minor contact is contact that involves minimal physical force and does not alter the movements or position of another player. If non-minor contact does occur, the result of the play will likely not stand if the breach affected the play.A breach affects the play if it is reasonable to assume that the outcome of the specific play may have been meaningfully different had the breach not occurred – eg if the player would not have been able to intercept the pass without causing significant contact with their opponent, or the opponent would have been able to make a play at the disc had the player not caused contact with them.The relative skill, height and/or athletic ability, of the players involved should not typically be taken into account when considering if something affected the play or not.Resting a hand on an opponentWhatA defender is resting a hand in their opponents back to enable them to know where their opponent is, even if they are not looking at themResultThis is a violation.WhyIt is not necessarily a foul, but it is a violation as per rule 15.1.1 which says “a player intentionally initiating minor contact is still a breach of the rules, but is to be treated as a violation, and not a foul.”.