What do people think about limiting the direction changes while balljointing?
I think two seconds of balljointing with unlimited direction changes if too powerful to defend against. It gives players too many options to play the ball with a high degree of control while not really having to pay attention to “ball control”.
Current rule for Scooping:
- 4.5.3. Scooping is permitted for no more than three (3) direction changes.
Ideally - for me - no direction change at all for balljointing.
i dont even understand the scooping rule, whats 3 direction change ??
all these half-way rules are just the result of not having a shot clock / possession clock for individuals AND team : one team with possession should be allowed to do whatever they want , but within a set amount of time until automatic turn over ( for exemple , 45 seconds for the whole team to attempt to score , and individuals have each 20 seconds to attempt a play on the ball , shoot or pass)
you know you can keep the ball in the open end of the mallet while drawing big figure-eights in the air, right? I know you can do it too. you can keep the ball in the hole until you draw 2 complete figure-eights, =the ball changes direction 3 times.
wtf i didnt know the restriction was based on that,
is that even called ? what if you finish on the off side does it count like a change of direction ?
cant compute how to count “changes of directions” in the long term and outside the big eight figure, some people do different patterns, i wouldnt be able to recognize it irl
and mateen to follow your thoughts : no change of direction while ball jointing means you cant drag a ball from the wall to around your front wheel , then pass it in a different direction ?
Yes, but I have quite strong views against scooping and balljointing.
Ideally - for me - no direction change at all for balljointing.
can you develop why they are bad for the game ?
i could quote myself again and highlight “your thoughts” but , yea , we just chatting i know 
i have only good feelings about balljointing and scooping , although i see that some extreme use might be bothering you.
its a balanced skill by nature : by keeping the diameter of the open end under a reasonable size , scooping is accessible for beginers but even a veteran player can miss his scoop.
it fasten recovering balls against walls and corner which was a huge game slower before
it give a better chance at passing plays , which is the hardest skill to develop and one of the reason bike polo is so hard to play as a team sport
cons are
just like when balljointing was unlimited , scooping is being abuse for just individual ball handling, wich can be potentially used to stale a game when you have the lead. this is simply link with the fact that still to this day , in bike polo , a teap with possession is never forced to play that possession and can just play pass until the time runs out… imo thats the real issue.
Me too… but…
There will never be any widespread support to reduce scooping or ball jointing because it alone enables the majority of players to execute accurate passes.
The best hope of reducing its the power of the scoop/joint would be to slowly reduce the max legal open end at worlds over the next ten years. People can play recreationally with whatever they wish but tournment heads should be restricted and over time the restrictions should aim to increase the quality of the last few games at worlds instead of being hamstrung because most players can’t hit a shot pass.
I’m convinced that the game would be much better to watch at the highest level if the scooping was reduced or eliminated.
I’m working on a double capped mallet. I intend to use it exclusively so new players see that it’s possible to play and win without scooping. I’m getting tired of seeing players not progress past scoop passes… It’s incredibly disheartening.
Lol as a relatively new player I’d love to try that double capped head. Genuinely curious how the game would be if everyone had that, and I also think it might be a useful tool for unlearning a habit of too much scooping even if the rules realistically won’t move towards no scooping…
i’d use a double capped mallet, i’ve thought about it often but would have to figure out how to cap the open end on one of my existing mallets.
i’m not any good at scooping, i only just learned to pick a ball up off the floor off bike like a couple weeks ago, so i guess it’s not like i’m too invested in scooping at the moment anyway.
i will say that scoop passing is handy to get over the mallet of that one annoying kid who likes to put his mallet on the floor to try and block every pass tho.
I think you are confusing the rules here with discussion of ball-jointing and scooping. As they are 2 different things.
Ball-jointing has no limit for directional changes, that is reserved for scooping only. The main rule for ball-jointing is maximum 2 seconds of hold time.
I quoted the scooping rule to highlight how limiting ball jointing not on time but on direction changes could work.