Clarification of Hinder

3.A.16. Hinder – Any transient element or occurrence not caused by a player that adversely impacts play, not including permanent objects. Examples include, but are not limited to, balls, flying insects, foreign material, players, or officials on another court that, in the opinion of the referee or the affected player, impacted a player’s ability to make a play on the ball.

8.C. A hinder called by the referee or player will result in a dead ball. In officiated play, tThe referee will determine if the hinder called by the player was valid. and if the player's ability to make a play on the ball was impacted. In non-officiated play, the player who was potentially hindered will determine whether their ability to make a play on the ball was impacted. A valid hinder that impacted play will result in a replay. If the rally concluded naturally simultaneous to the hinder call without the hinder impacting a player's ability to make a play on the ball, the rally will stand as played.A valid hinder per the Referee or a hinder called in non-officiated play will result in a replay.

3.A.16. Hinder – Any transient element or occurrence not caused by a player that adversely impacts play, not including permanent objects. Examples include, but are not limited to, balls, flying insects, foreign material, players, or officials on another court that, in the opinion of the referee, impacted a player’s ability to make a play on the ball.

8.C. A hinder called by the referee or player will result in a dead ball. The referee will determine if the hinder called by the player was valid. A valid hinder per the Referee or a hinder called in non-officiated play will result in a replay.

1. To clarify that a hinder requires both a transient element and a judgment call by the referee or the hindered player that the transient element impacted play.
2. To make rule 8.C consistent with the definition of hinder in 3.A.16.
3. To include non-officiated play in the definition of hinder.
4. To eliminate "second chance" replays. For example, if player A1 hits a lob, and a hinder is called prior to the lob landing out of bounds, the Player A1 should not get the benefit of a replay. They were not impacted by the hinder. If player A1 hits an overhead smash that is not returned by either opponent, but a hinder is called before A1's shot bounces a second time, the opponents should not get the benefit of a replay. They were not impacted by the hinder. If Player A1 hits a ball into the net as a ball rolls onto the court behind him (not in their field of view,) they were not impacted by the hinder and should not get the benefit of a replay.

There is a difference between an invalid hinder call (see rule 7.M) and a valid hinder call that does not impact a player's ability to make a play on the ball. An invalid hinder call is one where no hinder occurred and play should not have stopped. An invalid hinder is a fault on the player making the improper call. A hinder call may be valid without it affecting a player's ability to make a play on the ball.

If a transient element occurs, players should stop play. One of four scenarios then exists:
A. The hinder call was invalid. Fault on the player who called the invalid hinder.
B. The hinder is valid, and the rally was still in progress at the time of the hinder and stoppage of play. Replay the rally.
C. The hinder is valid, the rally ended simultaneous to the hinder call, and a player's ability to make a play on the ball was impacted by the hinder. Replay the rally.
D. The hinder is valid, the rally ended naturally with a fault simultaneous to the hinder call, and the faulting player was not impacted by the hinder. The rally stands as played.