Violations include many items: walk, double dribble, out of bounds, 3 seconds (in the key), fist, kick, 5 seconds (closely guarded or inbound delay), 10 seconds (backcourt), over-and-back.... For most violations the penalty is the other team will inbound the ball at the spot nearest to the violation, not where the ball is.

In most cases the violation is on the offense and that means the ball will go to the other team. If called by the Trail, it generally means that the calling official will not administer the inbound. Here is an example, and why.

Assume you are the Trail, and the offense commits a traveling violation ("walk") right in front of you in the front court. The other team will get the ball, and be going toward the far end.

If the play was a steal by the defense, you would be the new Lead and beat the players down the court. Your partner, in the Lead position, would become the new Trail and trail the play down the court.

There is no difference for the officials when the play is a violation. You still want to be on opposite corners of the rectangle containing the players. Think about the two possibilities:

1. You hold the ball and wait for your partner to run the full length of the court.
2. You run half the length of the court to the other end, while your partner runs half the length of the court to where you are.

The correct mechanic is #2. Remember though to cross the court diagonally as you go if the ball should inbound on your side, because your partner will be coming to that spot for the inbound.

Off course all violations are not called by the Trail in the front court. As the Lead you might call 3-seconds, and the ball will then inbound by the defense just outside the paint. You will administer this inbound by bouncing the ball to the player, and you become the new Trail.

So what are the keys:

1. Loud whistle and raised open hand to stop the clock. (Never mind that it might keep running in this league, do the mechanic correctly.)
2. Loudly communicate the violation, and use the hand signal if you know it.
3. Loudly communicate to all which team will inbound the ball and where.
4. Think about the next play and where the officials should be. Then move to minimize the time for your crew to be ready.

At the top we said that most violations result in the other team getting the ball, and most of these are offensive violations. There are two other types of violations:

• Free throw violation: results in either canceling the shot if committed by the offense, or awarding another shot if committed by the defense and the shot was missed. (If both are guilty the shot is cancelled and, unless there is another shot to be taken, the A/P arrow is used for the inbound.)
• Shot violations: basket interference and goaltending -- both cancel the shot if committed by the offense, and result in awarded points if committed by the defense. (We don't see much of this in the SRBC league.)