As mentioned in the 2013 rules thread, we have been thinking about the issues with stance violations and how to address them.
The concept of 'tail marking' came up in another thread, and it is IMO almost a must for tidying up the stance area. The idea (and you can see it visualised further down) is to mark your lie with the back edge of the mini aligned with the back edge of the thrown disc, meaning that your lie is the same irrespective of whether you mark it or not. This helps with speed of play as the majority of lies will not require marking. The only down side I can see is that you may have more instances of solid object relief.
That is a bit of an aside as the following thoughts can also work with the current marking rules, but I include it as I believe it works visually in combination with other possible changes.
So onto actual stance rules.
There were discussions on this area before I joined the committee and you can see notes on the 2011 discussion here:
http://conraddamon.com/pdga/2011/FallingPutt.txt
Please read it as I there are thoughts in there that I'm basing the following on, which is taken from an email I sent to the committee during the re-write we just completed.
[Email extract]
My feeling (as was Rick's) is that 60cm is too big for a general rule but rather than have two rules, why not stick with the existing 30cm leeway but extend it sideways. A 30x30cm square (makes more sense than a circle I think) gives a substantial area to hit during a run up, and only 15cm side-to-side relief in the case of a tricky lie. When we combine this with changing the marking behaviour, I think we get quite a compelling case.
See embedded image for how it would look (along with 60x60 & 60cm circle), the area to hit would only extend ~4cm to either side of a standard disc, or exactly the width of a standard mini (or an average foot) either way, and should be visually pretty easy to call particularly when you consider you would normally have the thrown disc as the visual indicator.
The proposed rule therefore would look like this:
802.04 Throwing from a Stance
A. A player must choose the stance that will result in the least movement of any part of any obstacle that is a permanent or integral part of the course. Once a legal stance is taken, the player may not move an obstacle in any way in order to make room for a throwing motion. It is legal for a player's throwing motion to cause incidental movement of an obstacle.
B. When the disc is released, a player must:
1. Have at least one supporting point that is in contact with the playing surface that is within a stance zone defined by a 30x30cm square directly behind the marker disc and,
2. Have no supporting point contact with the marker disc or any object (including the playing surface) closer to the hole than the rear edge of the marker disc; and,
3. Have all supporting points in-bounds.
C. Supporting point contact past the marker disc is permitted after the disc is released, except when putting.
D. Putting: Any throw from within 30 meters, as measured from the rear of the marker disc to the base of the target, is considered a putt. Supporting point contact closer to the hole than the rear edge of the marker disc after the disc has been released constitutes a falling putt and is considered a stance violation. The player must demonstrate full control of balance before advancing toward the hole.
E. A player shall receive one penalty throw, without a warning, for violation of a stance rule.
F. Any throw made from an illegal stance is disregarded. A re-throw must be taken from the original lie, prior to subsequent play by others in the group.
I have pitched this whole concept to a variety of players from AM2 through to Pro and no one has voiced any concerns.
[extract ends]
Alternatives to consider include: removing the follow through but allowing a run up on all throws; a 30m or 50m fairway marker past which you are considered to be putting (as opposed to a putting circle); different lies for inside/outside the circle.
None of these have reached a proposal stage yet