Elbows- Offensive weapon or Elevation tool?

StanmoreAddick

Difficult one for referee's to call this one-but it would be interesting to see what others feel about my views-

An ex- referee once said to me he looked to see if the fist was clenched to establish dangerous play. Just seen Shearer on the TV demonstrate this exactly. Obviously the elbow will be raised if a player jumps but there is no need to clench the fist- if a player then decides to use it to rearrange the other players face- the natural reation is to clench the fist-

Or am i being too simplistic????

AFKABartram

not really, some athletes run open hand, some run clenched fist. Wrong to make a judgement call on something the player won't even be aware he is doing at the time.

The only two ways i can see there are tell tale signs; a glance at the other player just before the challenge, followed by what would be an irregular movement of the arm. The bend of the elbow should only occur in the first stage of elevation, after that it should lead into an extension.

AFKABartram

with the spolight being on this right at the start of the season, this looks like something that will run through the course of the year.

Expect a hell of a lot more sendings off this season for use of the arm, than any other.