BUMP (FOOTBALL)

The following forms of football feature moves described a 'bump':

Contents

Australian rules football

Rules governing bumping

Bumps vs Tackles

Controversy

Gridiron Football

References

Australian rules football

Australian rules football - (also known as a ''hip and shoulder'' move). A player can legally bump ''any'' opponent (not just the player in possession) who is within five metres of the ball. It is similar in some ways to body checking in men's ice hockey.
A bump is used as an act of ''shepherding'' - that is, a one percenter preventing an opposing player from gaining possession of the ball or reaching the contest. This is something not allowed in most other football games although general shepherding in Aussie Rules is comparable to Blocking in American Football.
A bump is typically contact made from the side by either hip, shoulder or both.
The skill is generally introduced at Under 16 level in both men's and women's football.

Rules governing bumping

As bumps can cause serious injury, there are rules to protect players, particularly to protect the head of a player being bumped.
A bumping player's feet should not leave the ground, and a player may not bump an opposition player if both of their feet have left the ground, Mid air collisions can happen in a marking contest when both players are committed to the ball, however these collisions are considered accidental or incidental when both players involved are committed to the ball.
Although arm contact is allowed whilst shepherding, no contact can be made with the head of an opponent whilst bumping. Stray elbows can be extremely dangerous. Typically, if any high contact is made in a bump, a free kick is paid to the player who is infringed. Decades ago in the VFL/AFL, there were less strict rules on bumping, and hard bumps, particularly on players with their head over the ball could often send players to hospital with concussions and broken bones. The bones, particularly of the hip are extremely hard and can cause plenty of damage, although some players who frequently bump other players can later suffer hip complications.
An aggressive front-on bump is often called a ''shirt front'' and is an illegal and reportable offense (but again, often subject to interpretation). In some cases, for example, both players will charge each other, sometimes in opposite directions, resulting in a high impact collision. Other times, both players charge at each other with full commitment to the ball. These incidents are generally not reportable. Clashes of heads can sometimes happen when players bump or collide at full speed and this can cause serious head and or facial injuries.
Bumps can come from any direction and are often unexpected by a recipient. Playing the game therefore requires considerable courage, as little padding is worn by players to protect their bodies from high impact collisions. It is generally deemed the responsibility of anyone ''in play'' to protect themselves from bumps. Players will sometimes wait for an opponent to be within 5 metres and ''line up'' an opponent for a bump; if they begin running to lay a bump for a distance greater than 5 metres, they can be reported for "charging".
Bumping is often described as happening ''behind the play'', meaning that unless it occurs during a contest for the ball, it is not always the focus of television cameras or spectators. This can also makes it difficult for field umpires to detect infringements.
An umpire will often call "fair bump", or "play on" in response to a legal bump. If a bump is late and the player has already kicked the ball, then it often results in a ''relayed free kick'', which is given to a player on the same team further towards their goal.

Bumps vs Tackles

A tackle is often used instead against a player in possession of the ball. A bump is less likely to be effective in dispossessing a player of the ball and more likely to concede a freekick and a tackle. Additionally, an effective tackle can rewarded with a free kick.
Like tackles, a bump from behind will often cause a ''push in the back'' and the penalty is a freekick.

Controversy

Although there is no specific rule against it, umpires in recent years have typically interpreted it as high contact and penalise bumps on players with their head over the ball (when picking the ball up off the ground).
The game's governing body, the AFL, set a precedent in 2005 when it charged Byron Pickett with ''rough play'' for bumping James Begley with his head over the ball during the pre-season NAB Cup, even though both players were involved in the contest. The incident caused controversy and many commentators had called to "Ban the Bump". The league's reaction in suspending Pickett also caused controversy, accused by many of inventing a new rule and using a vague ruling to unnecessarily victimise Pickett. In response, the league progressively introduced a range of new interpretations giving it the power to penalise players for similar actions. Many players had learned the game and grown up knowing how to protect themselves and with the instinct to bump in these situations and the rule changes drew criticisms for these reasons.
In 2006, Justin Koschitzke was rendered unconscious by Daniel Giansiracusa with a legal hip and shoulder after both players accidentally clashed heads. Koschitzke appeared not to be aware of the oncoming Giansiracusa bump, however Giansiracusa was later cleared.^[1]. Koschitzke was diagnosed with a fractured skull, and was expected to miss 4–6 weeks. The incident sparked media drama in many parts of Australia, and when Koschitzke later fainted on television, it was thought that it was related to the bump, however brain scans found nothing abonormal. He wore a helmet to protect himself.
The bump caused further controversy 2006, when Blake Caracella suffered a career-ending neck injury after an accidental bump from former teammate Tim Notting which fracturing several vertebrae and bruising his spinal cord. The injury horrified the football community. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou saying that the speed of the game and the professionalism and physiques of modern AFL players were to blame (something that recent AFL rules have actually been designed to increase). In a speech, he unfortunate phrase "break neck speed" to highlight the problem. Caracella revealed that scans had shown his spinal column was naturally narrower than average. This condition would have ruled out a career in any professional contact sport had it been diagnosed earlier, and added to the sense of relief that the injury was not considerably more serious. However, he claims that he now suffers virtually no ill-effects resulting from the collision. Other players, such as Carlton's Nick Stevens have sustained similar injuries.
The league introduced further rule interpretations in 2006, highlighting these incidents as examples. It continues to be accused of inconsistency and a lack of clarity in the interpretation of such rules, particularly after a bump incident involving Collingwood's Alan Didak's elbow.^[2] Since Brodie Holland (on Brett Montgomery) and Ben Johnson (on Daniel Bell) have attracted maximum penalties (the same number of weeks as Pickett's 2005 bump) for bumps of this nature. In defence, the AFL has released reports by medical experts claiming that serious head and neck injuries could be caused by this type of bumping, especially at high speeds. Despite these claims, the only case of quadriplegia in the history of Aussie Rules wsa suffered by Footscray's Neil Sachse in the 1970s, and which was both accidental and not related to a bump.

Gridiron Football

American Football - A bump is a technique used by defensive backs to slow down a receiver's ability to get off the line of scrimmage. The defender bumps the receiver at the start of the play and attempts to throw him off his route by keeping contact over the first five yards.

References

1. Giansiracusa in the clear
2. Didak report thrown out