rule question, any game

cigardave said:

FOUL... not allowed at all.

1.3 Use of Equipment
The BCAPL reserves the right to prohibit any equipment it deems untested or
inappropriate, or that has not been evaluated by the BCAPL National Office.
1. You are responsible for all equipment and accessory items you bring to the table (AR
p. 68). You may not use equipment or accessory items in a manner other than their
intended use. Specifically:

g. you may not use any ball, cue, rack, or any other equipment or any part of
your body as a width-measuring device to determine if the cue ball or an
object ball would fit through a gap or to judge what ball the cue ball would
contact first (AR p. 68).

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What is the point to this rule? Seems like verifying whether a hit will be good or bad would be the way to go.

insanepoolgod said:

What is the point to this rule? Seems like verifying whether a hit will be good or bad would be the way to go.

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the point is that you must use your eyes and your brain to gauge a shot, not any other items like out of play balls, rulers, lasers, chalk, etc. you can use your cue, but nothing else. "judgement, not measurement"

GADawg said:

What was the logic for BCAPL deviating from the WSR rules to allow use of the cue with no hand on the cue? Seems like introducing another rules discrepancy with no strong driving force for the deviation.

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During the discussion of the rule, three things (among others) were noted:

1. The usual interpretation of the requirement of WSR 6.12 to have a hand "on" the cue stick is that no more than a fingertip need be in contact with the stick to meet the requirement of the rule.

2. With a stick lying on the table to analyze an angle, it was demonstrated that there is very little difference, and really no significant difference, between the body's position with a [WSR required] finger on the cue or without a finger on the cue. In either case, the head can easily be lowered to table level, if desired, or moved to any other elevation, or moved away to arm's length, or a full arm's length to either side (taking in the full range of many banks/kicks, though not all.) While it is true that some advantage might be gained by stepping back to observe a wider field of view, or by stepping away to view the stick from another perspective, the decision was made by the BCAPL that it was not significant enough to warrant keeping a hand on the stick.

3. The normal practice under WSR is to penalize only when intent is present. Removal of the hand-on-stick requirement ended the long-running practice of having to differentiate between, and settle arguments about, the hand being off the stick for a measurement vs. the stick laid on the table for other purposes such as tying a shoe or other non-measurement activity.

While all viewpoints were considered carefully, the above factors combined tipped the decision. In practice, during the four years the rule has been in effect for BCAPL play, including use at several non-BCAPL events, there has been no noted push-back from players or administrators.

Buddy Eick
BCAPL National Head Referee
BCAPL Director of Referee Training
Technical Editor, BCAPL Rule Book
bcapl_referee@cox.net

Find the Official Rules of the BCA Pool League here:

http://www.playbca.com/Downloads/Rul...2/Default.aspx

* The contents of this post refer to BCA Pool League (BCAPL) Rules only. The BCAPL National Office has authorized me to act in an official capacity regarding questions about BCAPL Rules matters in public forums.
* Neither I nor any BCAPL referee make any policy decisions regarding BCAPL Rules. Any and all decisions, interpretations, or Applied Rulings are made by the BCAPL National Office and are solely their responsibility. BCAPL referees are enforcers of rules, not legislators. BCAPL Rules 9.5.3 and 9.5.4 and the BCAPL Rules "Statement of Principles" apply.
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