Basketball Rules Changes

Football Rules Changes

Baseball Rules Changes

Softball Rules Changes

2025 Baseball Rules Changes

1-3-2c1 – Modified that resin, pine tar or any other drying agent is permitted on the bat in a specific area.

4-4-1c – Modified the definition of forfeiture.

2025-26 Basketball Rules Changes

4-22-1 & 2: This change removes the offensive team from goaltending violations, simplifying enforcement for officials and reducing ambiguity over whether a ball was a shot or a pass. It also encourages more scoring opportunities and minimizes confusion for players and coaches.

Rationale: The change eliminates the possibility of an offensive goaltending violation, which simplifies the rule for officials and players. It removes the need to judge whether a ball in flight is a try or a pass, resulting in clearer enforcement, greater consistency, and more opportunities for scoring plays near the basket.

4-22-3 (NEW): This rule change establishes that once the ball contacts the backboard, it is automatically considered to be on its downward flight. Therefore, if a player touches the ball after it hits the backboard, and the ball has a possibility of entering the basket, it is ruled as goaltending. This clarification helps protect legitimate shot attempts, reduces rough rebounding situations, and addresses a common rules misconception among coaches and players. It provides officials with a clearer standard for enforcing goaltending in backboard-related plays.

Rationale: This change enhances officiating clarity and protects legitimate shot attempts. It also addresses a common misconception among coaches and players by explicitly defining goaltending, leading to more consistent enforcement.

4-34-1: This rule change updates the definition of a player to clarify that a player is one of the five team members legally on the court at any given time, except during time-outs or intermissions. The change ensures consistency in rule enforcement by recognizing that it is difficult to distinguish between players, substitutes, and bench personnel during time-outs and intermissions. This clarification also supports the accountability of coaches for all team conduct during these periods and helps avoid misapplication of penalties such as technical fouls.

Rationale: This change ensures consistent enforcement of penalties for unsporting conduct by bench personnel. It allows officials to issue technical fouls to bench personnel during time-outs, aligning with the current rules for intermissions. It eliminates confusion and potential misapplication of rules and ensures fair and consistent enforcement of penalties for unsporting behavior, regardless of the individual’s role.

7-5-4: This rule change updates the procedure for determining the designated throw-in spot following a stoppage of play (not due to the ball going out of bounds) in the frontcourt. Instead of relying on an imaginary line, officials now use existing court markings, specifically the three-point line, to determine the location. This change improves accuracy, consistency, and clarity for officials by using visible floor markings rather than imaginary lines, which were often misjudged.

Rationale: By using the visible three-point line as the line of demarcation, officials will have a clearer and more consistent method for determining throw-in locations. This improves accuracy and reduces confusion, resulting in more reliable throw-ins.

9-2-12 & 9-3-4 (NEW): This rule change addresses situations where a thrower purposely and/or deceitfully delays returning inbounds after legally stepping out of bounds and then becomes the first player to touch the ball upon re-entering the court. Previously penalized as a technical foul, this action is now treated as a violation, aligning it with similar out-of-bounds scenarios. The change reduces the severity of the penalty to encourage more consistent enforcement by officials and prevents players from gaining an unfair advantage through deceptive re-entry tactics.

Rationale: This change lessens the penalty for players who delay their return after being out of bounds, shifting the penalty from a technical foul to a less severe violation. This rule aligns with the penalty structure of similar violations, such as Rule 9-3-3 (where a player steps out of bounds on their own volition). The change is intended to make it easier for officials to recognize and penalize these actions consistently while reducing the severity of the penalty, encouraging more accurate enforcement.

10-4-4b: This rule prohibits players from illegally contacting the backboard or ring in ways that create an unfair advantage or interfere with a scoring attempt. This rule is designed to maintain fair play and protect the integrity of scoring opportunities by penalizing actions affecting the outcome of a shot, with a technical foul.

Rationale: The rule change aims to standardize and clarify the enforcement of basket interference, leading to fairer outcomes and more consistent officiating. The removal of subjective judgments around intent allows for clearer rulings and better alignment with current game dynamics.

4-6-1a & b (NEW): This rule change clarifies and expands the definition of basket interference to include additional actions that unfairly affect the ball while it is in a scoring position. Basket interference now occurs when a player slaps or strikes the backboard, causing the backboard or basket to vibrate, while the ball is on or within the basket, touching the backboard, or within the cylinder.

Rationale: This clarification helps officials consistently identify interference that affects scoring plays and ensures the integrity of the basket area during shot attempts.

2025-26 Basketball Editorial Changes

4-19-3c, 4-47, 5.2.1 SITUATION C, 6-3-2a, 6-3-5b, 10-5-2

2025-26 Basketball Points of Emphasis

1. Bench Decorum and Communication

2. Faking Being Fouled

3. Contact on the Ball Handler 

2025  Football Rules Changes

Committee Clarifies and Restricts Attachments on Tooth and Mouth Protectors Effective with the 2026 Season [1-5-1d(5)a - 4, 5 (NEW)] – Items that are attached to the tooth and mouth protector that do not serve a purpose and function in protecting the teeth or mouth will not be allowed. Items that are a part of the tooth and mouth protector that are a health or risk issue to the player and can pose a danger to themselves or other players, will not be allowed.

Arm Sleeve Specifications Developed to Guide Manufacturers, Players and Coaches Effective with the 2027 Season [1-5-2d (NEW), 1-5-3c(6)] – The Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), in working with the football arm sleeve manufacturers and the NFHS, has developed new football arm sleeve performance specifications to be effective with the 2027 playing season. These new specifications closely align with the current rules for football gloves.

Electronic Equipment Approved to Permit Non-Audio and Still Images to Assist with Relaying Plays from the Sideline to Players [1-5-3c(2)] – This change allows for the use of some additional equipment, but continues to preclude in-helmet communication. This would allow for fixed electronic signs with play signals as well as non-audio methods but still would not permit the players between the numbers to watch video.

Rules Additions Further Prohibit the Use of Video and Audio Devices by Players [1-5-3c(3) (NEW)] – No player participating in the game will be allowed to wear any type of audio or video device in order to record or transmit audio or video.

Forward Fumbles Out of Bounds to be Returned to the Spot of the Fumble [3-4-2d (NEW), 3-4-3a, 4-3-1 EXCEPTION (NEW), 8-5-2a EXCEPTION] – A situation potentially giving an unfair advantage to a fumbling team was revised. When a forward fumble goes out of bounds or is ruled out of bounds between the goal lines, the ball shall be returned to the spot of the fumble.

Further Clarifications Made to Rule 10-4 in Specific Situations [9-6 PENALTY, 10-4-4b (DELETED)] – The committee continues its revisions and clarifications within the penalty enforcement rules to ensure consistency, particularly among illegal participation fouls.

Rules for 6-Player Football Revised to Permit Advancement of a Fumbled Snap (Six-Player – Rule 2 and 7, Six-Player – Rule 7) – The committee clarified that as long as there is a change of possession from the snap receiver to another player on offense, the ball can be advanced beyond the line of scrimmage.

2025 EDITORIAL CHANGES

1-5-1b(2)b(1); 1-5-1b(3)b(1); 2-32-16d; 2-33-1a, 2; 2-41-9b; 2-41-9c; 6-1-9; 7-2-5b EXCEPTION 2; 9-4-3p (NEW); 9-4 PENALTY; 9-5-1g; 9-8-1g; 9-8-1j; 10-3-1, 2; 10-3-3c; 10-4-2b; 10-4-2d; 10-4-4a; 10-5-3; NINE-, EIGHT-, AND SIX-PLAYER RULES DIFFERENCES; PENALTY SUMMARY, INDEX. 2025

2025 POINTS OF EMPHASIS

1. Illegal and Improperly Worn Player Equipment

2. Sportsmanship

3. Defenseless Player / Targeting

2025 Softball Rules Changes

1-8-6 EXCEPTION & PENALTY: A high school softball coach is now able to use electronic devices in the dugout for one-way communication to the catcher while the team is on defense. The penalty from Rule 3-6-11 was added to Rule 1-8-6 as well, with violators subject to ejection unless the offense is ruled to be of a minor nature.
Rationale: The committee has made these changes to support the use of emerging technology within the sport of softball. Being a permissive rule, the use of this one-way electronic communication will allow those who choose to embrace the technology an additional option to communicate with the catcher while on defense.

3-6-11: This rule change specifies that coaches are prohibited from using the device to communicate with any other team member while on defense or any team member while on offense and the coach cannot use the device outside the dugout/bench area.
Rationale: Clarifies that a coach may us an electronic device for one-way communication to the catcher while the team is on defense.

9-3-2b: When a baserunner who is declared out for being hit by a fair batted ball, the batter-runner is credited with a fielder’s choice in the scorebook.   
Rationale: This change corrects an error in the rules book that awarded a base hit in this instance.  

2025 SOFTBALL EDITORIAL CHANGES
Figure 1-1, Figure 1-3, 1-3-4, 1-3-5, 1-6-6, 1-7-1, 2-47, 3-2-3, 3-2-12 NOTE, 3-6-12, 5-1 Table, 5-1-1o, 6-1-2c, 8-1-2a EFFECTS 3, 8-6-4, 10-1-6

2025 SOFTBALL POINTS OF EMPHASIS

1. Team’s Role in Pace of Play
2. Situational Awareness