Welcome to the GHA Rule of the Week, where each week we try to upskill players and umpires alike in rules and interpretations.

This week we focus on one of our most blown rules and get an understanding of when the ball hitting the foot, hand, or body is a free hit and when it is not. 

Rule 9.11 - Field players must not stop, kick, propel, pick up, throw or carry the ball with any part of their body. 

It is not always an offence if the ball hits the foot, hand or body of a field player. The player only commits an offence if they gain an advantage or if they position themselves with the intention of stopping the ball in this way. It is not an offence if the ball hits the hand holding the stick but would otherwise have hit the stick. 

Here is a great video resource that explains the rule in detail and shows when no advantage is gained, it might just be 'play on'. However, here at GHA, due to the varying levels of player and umpire skill, we lean more towards "if you are unsure if there was an advantage or not, and it's hit the foot clearly, blow the free hit". Players are asked to keep this in mind when they believe there may not have been an advantage.