If you’ve seen someone get blocked in basketball, you already know you can slap the ball in basketball. With that being said, you may be wondering if you could punch the ball instead. So what is the answer to this question?
It’s actually within the basketball rules that punching the ball is illegal. Players play so close together that punching would most likely result in punching your own teammate, or someone else on the court. This could result in someone getting hurt, or could even start a fight, depending on the intensity of the punch.
Take a look at this punch by Embiid, he didn’t punch the ball, but throwing a punch in basketball in general could wind up being really bad.
Punching the ball on a block would make it much more dramatic, and would result in the ball going much further (which would get the crowd into it more). However, the point above is why players don’t punch the ball when going for a block. On top of that basketball is a sport built on finesse, and punching the ball would look much less graceful than batting it or blocking it with an open hand.
Why Punching The Ball Is Not a Good Strategy Regardless
Players Would Try and Steal The Ball With a Punch
Basketball would be a wild sport if players were allowed to punch the ball when attempting to get a steal. There would be a lot of incidents of players getting punched in the stomach or surrounding areas.
Deflecting The Ball With a Punch Is Much Less Accurate Than Using Your Hand
When you deflect the ball with your fingertips, it at least gives a chance to retrieve the ball. Let’s say you went up for a block, punched the ball, and the ball went flying, you would have little chance to get the ball, because it’s much harder to predict the trajectory of a ball that is punched than one that you slap or bat away with your hand or fingertips.
Could End Up In a Foul Call
Depending on how severe the punch is, it could end up in a foul call. It could wind up being a common foul, intentional foul, or a flagrant foul. I’m guessing this would be determined based on the speed of delivery when it comes to the punch.
Is There Another Meaning For The Word Punch In Basketball?
Have you heard the word punch being associated with basketball in other ways? If so here are the two most common meanings:
Post Up Play: A play where the plan is to get a player to post up, could also be called a punch play.
Punch Dribble: A punch dribble is a hard dribble forward, and then pulling back. This move is used for defenders that are over defending the drive and are trying to stay tight on the ball handler. Once the punch dribble is completed, the player could take a jump shot, or choose another angle in order to get to the hoop.
Punches It Down: You could also sometimes hear announcers describe a player dunking as “punching it down”, so that could be another meaning.
Conclusion
Now you know why you can’t, or players can’t punch the ball in basketball. I’m not quite sure what the call would be if you did punch the ball, but it would most likely result in some sort of technical foul or even a flagrant foul.
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