# Law 33: Contact: General Principles (FIBA Official Basketball Rules)

Basketball · Law 33: Contact: General Principles · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/basketball/laws/law-33-contact-general-principles/)

The cylinder, verticality, legal guarding, players in the air, screens, charging and blocking, the no-charge semi-circle, use of hands, post play and the named fouls of contact.

## 33.331 Space, Guarding and Screens

The cylinder, verticality, guarding with and without the ball, jumpers and screens.

### Test 1: The cylinder and verticality

- The cylinder of a defender, or an attacker without the ball, runs from the palms in front to the buttocks behind. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.1)
- For the player with the ball, the front of the cylinder is the feet, bent knees and arms holding the ball above the hips. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.1)
- Normal play is starting a dribble, pivoting, shooting and passing; spreading arms or legs to gain space is illegal. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.1)
- The cylinder includes the space above the player. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.1)
- A defender must not be penalised for leaving the court vertically or for arms raised within his own cylinder. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.2)
- The player who leaves his cylinder and contacts an opponent who had established his own is responsible. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.2)
- An initial legal guarding position needs the defender facing the opponent with both feet on the court. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.3)
- The defender kept his cylinder; the shooter left his. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.2, 33.3)
- Front: palms; sides: arms and legs; rear: buttocks. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.1)
- The palms, the buttocks and the outer edge of arms and legs bound it; the toes do not. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.1)

### Test 2: Guarding the ball and away from it

- When guarding a player who holds or dribbles the ball, the elements of time and distance do not apply. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)
- A player with the ball must be ready to stop or change direction, even if a legal position is taken in a fraction of a second. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)
- He may stay still, jump vertically, or move laterally or backwards, not towards the player with the ball. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)
- Contact must occur on the torso; then the defender is considered to have been at the place first. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)
- For a player without the ball, time and distance apply: in proportion to speed, but not less than 1 normal step. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.5)
- Once the legal position is established, the defender may turn within his cylinder to avoid injury. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)
- Without the ball, the defender must give time and distance; stepping in too late makes him responsible. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.5)
- Lateral movement keeps the position; contact on the torso puts the defender there first. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)
- With time and distance respected, the defender's position is legal and the contact is the cutter's. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.5)
- A set defender, facing, both feet down, hit on the torso: the dribbler caused it. Moving forward or a hip out is a block. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.4)

### Test 3: Players in the air and screening

- He may land where he took off, or elsewhere if the landing place and path were free of opponents at take-off. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.6)
- Moving under a player in the air and causing contact is usually a flagrant foul, sometimes disqualifying. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.6)
- If momentum after landing causes contact with a legally set opponent beyond the landing place, the jumper is responsible. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.6)
- A legal screener is stationary inside his cylinder with both feet on the court when contact occurs. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.7)
- Outside a stationary opponent's field of vision the screener must allow him 1 normal step without contact. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.7)
- For an opponent in motion, time and distance apply: not less than 1 and not more than 2 normal steps. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.7)
- A legally screened player is responsible for any contact with the screener. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.7)
- An opponent may not move into the path of a player who is already in the air. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.6)
- Within the field of vision as close as he likes; behind, 1 step; in motion, 1 to 2 steps by speed. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.7)
- Moving under a jumper after take-off is the defender's foul; in A and C the jumper is responsible. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.6)

## 33.332 Kinds of Illegal Contact

Charging, blocking, the no-charge semi-circle, hands, the post and the named fouls.

### Test 1: Charging, blocking and the semi-circle

- Charging is illegal contact, with or without the ball, by pushing or moving into an opponent's torso. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.8)
- Blocking is illegal personal contact that impedes the progress of an opponent with or without the ball. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.9)
- A screener who is moving when contact occurs, with the opponent stationary or retreating, commits a blocking foul. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.9)
- Arms and elbows may be out when taking position, but must come inside when an opponent passes; contact is blocking or holding. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.9)
- The no-charge rule applies when the defender has one foot or both feet in contact with the semi-circle area. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.10)
- Contact by an airborne attacker in control on a shot or pass with a defender inside the semi-circle is not a team control foul. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.10)
- The no-charge semi-circle lines are part of the no-charge semi-circle areas. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 2.5.7, 33.10)
- All three conditions hold: control in the air, a shot, the defender inside. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.10)
- Control while airborne, a shot or pass, and a defender in contact with the area. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.10)
- A has a foot on the semi-circle line, which is part of the area; B, C and D stand outside it. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.10)

### Test 2: Hands, arms and the post

- Touching an opponent with the hand is not in itself a foul; it is one if it gains an advantage or restricts movement. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- Placing the hands or arms on an opponent and staying in contact to impede his progress is illegal use of hands. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- Repeatedly touching or jabbing an opponent is a foul as it may lead to rough play. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- Using an extended forearm or hand while dribbling to stop an opponent reaching the ball is a foul. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- It is a foul by an attacker without the ball to push off to get free to catch the ball. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- Verticality applies in post play: the attacker and defender must respect each other's cylinder. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.12)
- Shouldering or hipping the opponent out of position in the post is a foul, by attacker or defender. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.12)
- Barring the defender off the ball with the forearm is the dribbler's foul. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- A hand that stays on the opponent and impedes his progress is illegal use of hands. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)
- A light touch that gains no advantage is not a foul; a hand kept on him, jabs and a barring forearm are. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.11)

### Test 3: From the rear, holding, pushing and faking

- Illegal guarding from the rear is personal contact by a defender with an opponent from behind. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.13)
- Attempting to play the ball does not justify contact with an opponent from the rear. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.13)
- Holding is illegal personal contact that interferes with an opponent's freedom of movement. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.14)
- Holding can occur with any part of the body. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.14)
- Pushing is illegal contact with any part of the body where a player forcibly moves or tries to move an opponent. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.15)
- A fake is any action to simulate being fouled or theatrical exaggeration to gain an advantage. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.16)
- Pushing is defined for an opponent with or without the ball. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.15)
- Going for the ball does not excuse contact from behind. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.13)
- Simulating a foul to gain an advantage is a fake. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.16)
- A theatrical fall with no real contact is a fake; a grab is holding, a shove is pushing, a bump from behind is from the rear. (Source: FIBA OBR 2026, Art. 33.13-33.16)

Sources: FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026 (v1.1), Article 33 (paraphrased in original wording; original questions authored from the Rules, not reproduced)

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