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Frequently Asked Questions - Out-of-Bounds

QA-OB-1: My favorite driver went OB. Can I retrieve it for my next shot?

Yes, as long as you make your next throw within the 30 seconds allowed by the Excessive Time rule.

QA-OB-2: My drive went into an OB pond which is surrounded by tall reeds. One meter from where the disc was last in-bounds puts me in the middle of the reeds. Can I just go back to the tee?

Yes. Going back to the previous lie is one of the OB options. Alternatively, you could declare an abandoned throw with the same result. You can also take optional relief back along the line of play (without it costing you an additional penalty throw) because you would be taking optional relief following a penalty for out-of-bounds. That is probably your best option.

QA-OB-3: My disc hit a flexible fence from the OB side. Was the disc briefly over in-bounds when the fence flexed, or perhaps by having slightly penetrated a hole in the fence?

No. The fence defines an OB plane which flexes as the fence flexes. Unless the disc has penetrated and remained lodged within the fence, the fence is considered to be a continuous impenetrable surface. Your disc was not in-bounds at any point when it struck the fence.

QA-OB-4: My disc went OB. Can I use the optional relief rule to mark my lie back along the line of play, instead of one meter from OB?

Optional relief is available for free (without adding a penalty throw) after a throw that results in a penalty throw and that requires placement of a lie (such as OB or above two meters). First relief is taken as specified in 806.02.D, then optional relief is taken straight back on the line of play (803.02.D,E). A player may not take one meter of relief from OB after taking optional relief even if the relocated lie is near an OB line.

QA-OB-5: My throw landed next to an OB creek. It’s hard to tell whether the disc is in the creek or not since the edge of the creek comes up into some mud and grass. Another player went up to my disc and pushed it down to see if there’s water underneath.

No. Note that the interference and position rules are written in terms of a disc being moved rather than merely touched. The other player did not change the location of your disc. In fact, a disc must sometimes be manipulated in order to determine its status or whose it is. If you move your possibly OB disc, it is automatically OB. But there is no corresponding rule that makes it in-bounds if someone else moves it. If that happens, you restore your disc to its approximate position as agreed upon by your group.

QA-OB-6: A player in my group foot-faulted and was called on it (and seconded). Their throw went OB. Do they get a warning, a penalty, or two penalties?

A player’s first stance violation results in a penalty throw. In this case, there were multiple violations. Normally, the first violation to occur is the one that counts. In this case, that’s the foot fault (though it doesn’t really matter as it’s one penalty throw either way). There’s no re-throw, so the disc is played as OB. Since a player cannot receive penalty throws for multiple violations on a single throw, there’s just one penalty throw.

QA-OB-7: The rules say you can mark relative to where the disc “last crossed into OB”. At what point does that happen? For example, a disc may fly above the OB line for a while. Is that point where part of the disc first crossed the line, or when the enti

It’s when the entire disc crossed the line. To be super-technical, since the disc is a circle, there will be a single point of last contact with the inner edge of the OB line. That is the point you use for marking.

QA-OB-8: There’s a huge spider web right in front of me where I want to throw. Can I knock it down?

Only if at least some of it is on the playing surface where a supporting point may be placed,  in which case it is debris and can be removed as a casual obstacle. If it’s only in your flight path or it doesn’t touch the ground, it cannot be moved.

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