Let's Cut Kristin Latt Some Slack for Her 'Stance Violation'

One of the major stories to come out of last weekend’s PDGA Champions Cup was the foot fault called on Kristin Latt during the FPO final round.

It happened on the par-four 16th hole. Latt’s tee shot floated high, and hit some trees. It dropped to the ground, leaving her with a very long second shot—or two shots—to reach the green.

Significantly, at that point, Latt was locked in a tight battle with Missy Gannon—and trailing by one stroke.

When Latt threw her second shot, her foot slipped in the dirt; it nudged her marked disc. A nearby marshal saw this, and called a “stance violation”—a one-stroke penalty.

You can watch the moment here.

The question is: Should the marshal have called the penalty, or merely issued a warning?

In the bigger picture, it’s evident that the foot fault was unintentional. Latt skidded forward when her foot slipped. She was clearly trying to throw a legitimate shot.

One consideration should be player safety. On the very same afternoon, Paul McBeth slipped in the grass of the 12th hole while throwing his second shot. He didn’t foot fault, but he twisted badly and fell to the ground.

Disc golf throws can generate a lot of torque. It’s unfortunate if players stumble or fall—and get injured. And so, it seems reasonable that, if a player makes a good faith effort to conduct a legal throw—and then stumbles—there should be some consideration of the overall circumstances.

In Latt’s case, her foot landed behind the line. It was only when she slipped forward that her foot touched the disc.

It’s also significant that it happened during the home stretch of a major championship.With so much at stake, the marshal could have gathered the other three players on Latt’s card—Gannon, Paige Pierce, and Silva Saarinen—to discuss the issue. And then offer a warning, or the option to re-do the throw.

We have to wonder how many players inadvertently make small foot faults over the course of a tournament. But again, because it’s difficult to precisely monitor every throw, it would be helpful if the relevant standard would be to make allowances for a good-faith effort.

For many years, major league baseball anticipated a similar concern. When second basemen attempted a double-play by touching second base and then throwing to first, there was some leeway afforded for safety reasons. It was called the “neighborhood play”—the second baseman could generally “touch” the base, or be in very close proximity to it, in order to avoid the oncoming spikes of the base runner’s shoes.

Major League Baseball even has an explanation for this:

“The ‘neighborhood play’ is a colloquial term used to describe the leeway granted to middle infielders with regards to touching second base while in the process of turning a ground-ball double play. Though it is not explicitly mentioned in the rulebook, middle infielders were long able to record an out on the double-play pivot simply by being in the proximity—or neighborhood—of the second-base bag. The maneuver had been permitted for safety purposes, as it allowed the pivot man to get out of the way of the oncoming baserunner as quickly as possible.”

In 2016, Major League Baseball made changes to this longstanding principle. But the overall reasoning for it had held up for decades—player safety.

Noting the timing of the penalty called on Latt—and the possibility that it affected the outcome of the tournament—there’s been a lot of subsequent coverage of the issue. And that begs a different question—will foot positioning now be monitored more carefully and continuously in future PDGA events?

If foot-fault calls become more ubiquitous, then players will need to be doubly careful. But it seems difficult to scrutinize the minute positioning of each throw. And that could result in erratic or unpredictable enforcement of the rule.

Overall, player safety should matter. And the standard of a “good faith effort” should hold. Otherwise, the frequency of future stance violation calls will hinge on  the relative vigilance of a wide variety of officials scattered across tournament courses.