Observations After Event 3 of 2013-14

My third event of the season reminded me toss execution needs work, specifically specialty kick tosses. The hitches or first kicks of a specialty kick toss are getting so poorly executed it’s hard to tell if the top person meant to do something or if they slipped off the basket. When performing the hitch it should be easy to see a 90 degree difference in the direction of the thighs and the difference during a kick should clearly be greater than 90 degrees. If your tosses aren’t executed in a way that makes this clear, don’t be surprised if you don’t get credit for the difficulty of a specialty kick toss.

On the rules side of things, Level 1 and Level 2 pyramid connections need to be reinforced. When the rules say “the connection must be made prior to initiating…” it means the connection must be clearly established before the bottom of the dip. If you attempt to make that connection after the dip, on the way up, the skill is illegal and should be deducted.