Technical Fouls in GAA Football
When you have the ball you can also foul by breaking rules such as travelling or doing to bounces in series. I know, sounds confusing but you will get it eventually!
Technical Fouls
This section deals with fouls ‘against the ball’, i.e. fouls committed by a player, which do not infringe on another player.
Players may not lift the ball directly from the ground. The toe or the hurl may be used to lift the ball from the ground, into the hands. If a player illegally lifts the ball from the ground, the opposing team regains possession, and a free is taken from the point where the foul occurred.
When in possession of the ball, a player may take no more than four steps while holding the ball. He may however, start on a ‘solo-run’, dropping the ball from hand to foot, and playing it back to the hand ‘toe-tap’ in football, or soloing on the hurley in hurling. If a player takes more than four steps with the ball in his hand, a free to the opposing team is awarded.
A player may pass the ball using either the hand (‘hand pass’) or by kicking the ball to a team mate (‘foot pass’), or in hurling by striking the ball with the hurl. A legal ‘hand pass’ is committed by a player who makes it apparent to the referee that a clean striking action has occurred (to clearly show that the ball was not thrown).
If an attacking player is within his opponents small parallelogram before the ball enters, it is deemed a ‘square ball’, and a free out to the defending team. However, if the ball enters before him, or enters, is cleared and played back into the small parallelogram before he has time to exit, a foul is not called.