Jamming infraction rule (mallet under wheel)

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#1

6.4.5.1 A jamming infraction is called when a player causes an opponent to dab, or crash, by placing their mallet underneath their opponent’s front or rear wheel.

This reads to me very clearly as mallet under wheel is only an infraction when the opponent actually crashes or dabs.
However, I see refs whistling on this as soon as there is a mallet under someone’s wheel and in my experience this also seems to be the call that players expect.
What’s going on here? Am I missing something? Do we need an update on this rule? Should refs learn to whistle by this rule?

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#2

you’re correct, i don’t think there should be a call if the player stays up and doesn’t dab, at least per the rule. however, jamming is super dangerous and i can see an argument for calling it even if the player doesn’t dab or crash but the rule would need to be changed to reflect that if it’s going to be called that way.

similarly, i had an instance a couple weekends ago where my mallet was placed and i was not moving and an opponent ran it over causing themselves to dab. i could tell they were annoyed with me and i did feel bad but i felt like it wasn’t on me since i was already positioned with my mallet planted when they ran it over. this was a pick-up game so no ref to make a call but sometimes we end up self reffing out there depending on what’s going on. i do wonder how that would have been called in a tournament setting though.

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#3

6.4.5.1.1 No penalty is issued if a player incidentally rides over the firmly planted mallet of a static player.

By the rules, the situation you’re describing is definitely not a foul…

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#4

cool, i didn’t think so but i’m still learnin and the other player is seasoned and probably a high B player, if not an A player, so him being annoyed made me think i goofed. appreciate it!

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#5

I whistle when I have the impression, that the malleted player gets a disadvantage. Dabbing clearly is a disadvantage, but often players stay on their bike but lose some precious time gaining back their balance.

In other places of the ruleset formulations like „if a disadvantage is caused“, and I think most refs try to whistle like that in this case, too.

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#6

The rule could use a rewrite. But @momo 's approach is the correct one.

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#7

in basket ball you cannot touch the wrist of the player while bashing / grabbing the ball when defending against a ball carrier.

the ref will whistle if he sees a clear foul but will let it play if its a minor touch of the wrist , and the “fouled” player actually carry on with his original play.

there is a culture of “if you dont ask for your foul i dont have to give it” in basket ball atound these type of play, it leaves some control on the players to adjust the intensity of the plays they agree on.

on the other hand , we have this double standard of “if my mallet is firmly planted , then its your fault if you ride on it” and people noticed there is a gray area here : how much time do you have to firmly plant a mallet before ? 🥹

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#8

You imply people plant their mallet in an ambiguous way, such that they jam other players without getting called? Sorry, but I want to see evidence for this. It’s a high risk, low reward move.

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#9

bringing up a different sport and how they handle a situation usually doesn’t translate well into polo imo, precisely because of this culture aspect. All the well established sports out there have such a long history of how their players and refs (and also everyone else involved including the fans) are expected to deal with a situation. We in polo don’t have this culture (yet). There are sports where players are almost expected to stretch the rules as far as possible or even exploit situations viciously to get an advantage and on the opposite end there are sports where players are absolutely expected to show respect to the other players and the rules and to call fouls on themselves if they’ve committed one. And not doing so would definitely be seen as an absolute dick move and would be met with some outrage. With the rising level of professionalism in polo I personally would really like to see such a fair play culture developing.

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#10

even with fairplay taken in account i think it boils down to how other sports have to draw a line in some particular situations.

edit : i ll develop : every “game” with rules start as a challenge between people. there is fairplay in every sport its not only something inherent to the polo “community” :roll_eyes:

a ruleset define what people are expected to do and what not. players will become good at it and with time might stretch a rule line , viciously or not … it might just happen because the rule didnt take in account “how good” people would become at doing it.

wether it is equipment or how players interact with each others , polo as a young sport can always learn on how other sports evolved.

#11

you ve never done that? :sweat_smile:

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#12

its a thing that can happen , not even maliciously.

it happend at worlds , i was stoping by the boards , then planting my mallet to stabilize as a tripod after clearing the ball from the boards.

at the same time mc fly arrived and front pivoted , lending his back wheel on top of my mallet.

everything happen simulteanously so i get that its technically my foul, but really if you pivoting on top of a non-moving mallet , and you dont have the ball, there is also a penalty for playing someone mallet with your wheels, so not all situations ending with mallet under the wheel are the same outcome… people really focus too much on how black or white the ruleset should be…

https://www.youtube.com/live/cRch9QG7Da4?si=x9NkvFG2Y5ntJzu5
its at 3:11:00 jamming or sweeping ?

#13

That is a “sweeping” foul on the player who rode over your firmly planted mallet.

Per rule: 6.2.3.1.3 A sweeping bike contact infraction is calledwhen a player uses their front or rear wheel to make contact with a stationary player’s mallet that is
firmly established and planted on the ground.

But I have never seen anyone actually make a sweeping call in the EU.

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#14

Per the video, that is a Jamming foul.

1 Like
#15

if someone is actively pivoting on top of your mallet , it should be a coincidental , not 100% a jamming penalty.