Rule 5, Section 3 – Illegal Body Check (NFHS Boys Lacrosse Rule Book)

Art. 1 – “Body checking of an opponent who is not in possession of the ball or within five yards of a loose ball.”

Art. 2 – “Avoidable body check of an opponent after he has passed or shot the ball.”

Art. 3 – “Body checking of an opponent from the rear or at or below the waist.”

Art. 4 – “Body checking of an opponent by a player, in which contact is made above the shoulders of the opponent.”

Art. 5 – “Body checking of an opponent who has any part of his body other than his feet on the ground.”

Art. 6 – “Blocking of an opponent with the head or initiating contact with the head (spearing). A minimum of a one-minute non-releasable penalty will be assessed for spearing. A three-minute non-releasable penalty will be assessed if the spearing was vicious.”

The Illegal Body Check is a catch-all penalty for many different types of violations. The most common being hitting an opponent from beyond five yards of the ball. This happens often after a shot. Where a defender is moving towards the shooter, then the shot is taken, and then the defender lays out the shooter. Because the ball was shot it is beyond five yards from the shooter very quickly. If the defenseman does not stop it is likely that he hit the shooter illegally.

Hopefully this video helped shed some light on the different violations that an IBC encompasses. Remember, keep all your hits below the shoulders and above the waist and you can cut down on a lot of these penalties during a game.

Cheers,
Gordon