Arena Rule 11. Precedence

In plain English

Precedence still comes off the line of the ball.

• Precedence comes off the line of the ball, exactly as on grass: the extended path the ball has travelled or is travelling, including after it has come off a pony, a player or anything else. Miss a free hit and the line is the direction you were riding.
• Two players exactly on the line making a play on each other, following or meeting, beat everyone else.
• Otherwise a player exactly on the line with the ball on their offside has it, except against that pair.
• Riding the way the ball is going beats riding against it.
• With nobody exactly on the line, the smaller angle to it wins; at equal angles, whoever has the line on their offside.
• Hitting the ball last confers nothing.
• The walls are what make this different in practice: a rebound creates a new line at once, and it is the new line that counts.

The line of the ball (LOB) is the reference for deciding precedence as between players and is taken as the extended path along which the ball has travelled or is travelling.

Quoted extract · Green Book 2025, Rule 11

Read arena rule 11 in the Green Book 2025

In the arena, what is precedence decided from?

• The position of the walls
• The line of the ball ✓
• Which player is nearer the goal
• The umpire’s discretion

The line of the ball (LOB) is the reference for deciding precedence as between players and is taken as the extended path along which the ball has travelled or is travelling.

Test yourself

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