Running out the clock
In sports strategy, running out the clock, also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, eating clock or time-wasting, is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire through a series of preselected plays, either to preserve a lead or hasten the end of a one-sided contest. Such measures expend time but do not otherwise have a tactical purpose. This is usually done by a team that is winning by a slim margin near the end of a game, in order to reduce the time available for the opposing team to score. Generally, it is the opposite strategy of running up the score.
The process of running out the clock generally involves low-risk, low-event play, intending to minimize the ability of the other team to interfere or counter. As this produces unexciting sport for spectators, many rulebooks attempt to counteract this; some include a time limit for completing a play, such as a play clock or shot clock.
Approaches to running out the clock differ, particularly between sports. In some cases it is considered a normal aspect of the game, whereas in others it is considered unsporting. The term "time-wasting" has pejorative implications and is generally reserved for varieties of football. In other timed sports, including basketball, gridiron football, and hockey, the more neutral term "running out the clock" is more commonly used.
Association football
Time-wasting in association football consists of two forms, extending the length of stoppages when the ball is out of play, and, while the ball is in play, playing in a way as to keep possession of the ball as long as possible rather than attempting to score.Extending the length of stoppages
A common time-wasting tactic is to make substitutions late in the game, lengthening the duration of stoppages while the change is made. Players may also feign injury, kick the ball away, obstruct the taking of a quick free kick by an opposing player, or delay the taking of their own free kicks or throw ins. If the referee considers a delay to be unreasonable, the offending player may be given a yellow card.
When playing at home, there have been some instances where teams have been accused of time-wasting by instructing their ball boys to delay returning the ball to the away team.
These actions should, in theory, be negated by the addition of an equal amount of stoppage time, but teams nevertheless employ these methods.
Maintaining possession
A common tactic often involves carrying the ball into the corner of the field and shielding it from the defender. This will commonly lead to a free kick if the frustrated defender budges the player out of the way, or it can also lead to a throw-in by the defender placing a tackle and managing to legally make contact with the ball so close to the line it often rolls out of play. This can be repeated to continue time-wasting.
Laws of the Game
Both types of time-wasting are generally viewed negatively, though only the former is contrary to the game's rules. Referees are empowered to book players whom they feel are delaying the restart of play and several amendments to the Laws of the Game and guidance to match officials have been made to prevent time-wasting, including progressively stricter restrictions on how long possession can be maintained by goalkeepers. The back-pass rule was introduced in 1992 in order to prevent time-wasting by defenders repeatedly passing the ball back to their goalkeeper.An amendment to the Laws attempting to mitigate time-wasting substitutions was made in 2019 — players are now required to leave the pitch at the nearest boundary, rather than making an often long and slow walk back to their teams' technical area.
Australian rules football
In a close game, Australian rules football players on the leading side will typically run the clock down by kicking the ball between the defenders while having no intention of a forward thrust, or by advancing the ball with short, low-risk kicks. Each time a mark is taken, the player can run approximately eight seconds off the clock before being required to play on – and may continue to run time off the clock if no opponents pressure them after the call of play on is made. Strategically, running down the clock can be stifled by playing man-on-man defence, in an attempt to force the opposition to kick to a contest, creating the chance for a turnover.Late in a close game, players who have marked the ball will often attend to their uniforms by performing actions such as tucking in jerseys or pulling their socks up, along with overzealous stretching, in an effort to "milk" the clock and disguise their intentions as an act of plausible deniability. Players kicking for goal are now given a shot clock 30 seconds to take their kicks, while in general play they are only given 7 seconds, after which "play on" is called. According to the laws, wasting time is either a free kick to the opposing team, a 50-metre penalty, or a reportable offence if it is judged to be intentional, reckless or negligent. In reality, though, the umpire will almost always call play on—even if the time on the 30-second shot clock has been depleted. Shot clocks are disregarded for kicks after the siren.
Rushed behinds
Defending players can "rush" behinds, scoring a point against their team but maintaining possession. By consuming time in this way they may prevent their opponents from opportunities to score goals worth six points.These were accepted in general play as being part of the game, however the tactic was exploited to an extreme degree in two high-profile incidents during the 2008 AFL season. In Round 16, Richmond's Joel Bowden rushed two behinds in a row while kicking in to use up time towards the end of their game against Essendon, reducing the margin from 6 points to 4 points but enabling Richmond to win the game. More prominently the 2008 AFL Grand Final saw Hawthorn rush a record 11 behinds against Geelong.
These incidents prompted a rule change and, since 2009, it has been illegal in AFL matches for a defender to deliberately concede a rushed behind when he is not under any pressure from the attacking team. In the event that a defender does this, the umpire awards a free kick to the attacking team on the goal-line at the spot where the defender conceded the score. The defender may still deliberately concede a rushed behind if he is under pressure from an attacker.
Baseball
does not have a game clock, although some aspects of the game do have time limits, most notably the pitch clock adopted by Major League Baseball starting with the season. Despite the absence of a game clock, stalling tactics have been used in baseball. In games played before the advent of stadium lighting or subject to a relatively early curfew, losing teams sometimes wasted time in the hopes that darkness or curfew would come before the game was declared official—a nine-inning baseball game is not official until five innings are complete. For most of baseball history, games ended before becoming official were replayed from the beginning later, which gave a losing team incentive to waste time under some circumstances. Such deliberate attempts to slow down play are subject to a forfeit being declared. The most recent major-league example occurred on July 18, 1954, when the St. Louis Cardinals were assessed a forfeit after wasting time while losing to the Philadelphia Phillies.Basketball
In basketball games, the clock stops when the ball is dead and runs when it is live.Running out the clock was a major problem in the early days of the National Basketball Association. Often, once a team obtained the lead, it spent the remainder of the game just passing the ball back and forth, in what was called stalling, a "delay offense", or more colloquially, "stall ball". The only hope for the defense was to attempt to steal the ball or commit fouls and hope that the fouled team would miss free throws.
Two notable examples of stalling occurred during the 1950–51 NBA season. The first was a November 1950 game with a final score of 19–18. The second, played in January 1951, had six overtime periods with only a single shot attempted in each. The NBA responded to these problems when Danny Biasone invented the shot clock, which was instituted for the 1954–55 NBA season. The NBA's shot clock gives teams 24 seconds to make a shot that hits the basket rim or scores, with the team losing possession if it fails to do so. This effectively eliminated stalling and, as once noted on the NBA's website, "accomplished nothing less than the salvation of pro basketball."
Today, shot clocks are used in nearly all basketball leagues, although the duration varies. One notable exception is high school basketball in the United States; as of 2017, only eight U.S. states used a high school shot clock. The use of a shot clock in high school basketball can vary by state or league, and stalling tactics may be used as an offensive strategy if circumstances call for it, though some state athletic associations or game referees can prohibit it as an unsportsmanlike act.
Most clock management in modern basketball centers around both the game clock and the shot clock. An offense nearing the end of a game and holding a slim lead will attempt to use as much of both clocks as possible before shooting the ball, to give the opposing team as little time as possible to respond. A team trailing by a small margin near the end of regulation or overtime may counter this by intentionally committing personal fouls on defense. This stops the clock, and if the fouling team is in the penalty situation, forces the fouled team to shoot free throws. If the last free throw is successful or if the fouling teams rebounds a missed last free throw, the fouling team will regain possession without any additional clock time lost, but this strategy risks giving the fouled team an opportunity to extend its lead if it makes the free throw. Fouls intentionally committed in this way are usually tolerated with no penalty beyond the normal penalties assessed for personal fouls, as long as the fouls are not flagrant. Alternate basketball rules, such as the Elam Ending, have been proposed to minimize intentional fouling at the end of games.