Axe Throwing Misconduct Rules
Axe throwing has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years. The sport, which encompasses a unique blend of strength, accuracy, and technique, has very few contemporaries in the modern world. As axe throwing has grown in popularity, both casual events and competitive leagues have sprung up across the nation.
However, given the inherently dangerous nature of the sport, and the professional nature of the competitive leagues, it’s very important to have a comprehensive set of rules and regulations to ensure that players and spectators can stay safe while enjoying axe throwing. One of the most important areas of regulation is misconduct, and most competitive leagues provide an extensive list of rules as to what can warrant disciplinary action for a player, in order to promote a safe, sporting, and professional atmosphere during an axe throwing match.
Purposeful Distractions
In a regard that is relatively similar to golf, the precise moment that an axe thrower releases their axe is very important to the success of their throw. A calm, focused, and reasonably quiet environment is crucial to ensuring all players can perform at the height of their ability; therefore, most official axe throwing rulesets include extensive and comprehensive rules that describe what counts as distracting behavior, and what officials are able to do to respond to these distractions.
Many prominent competitive rulesets define a “purposeful distraction” as behaviors such as taunting, using threatening, abusive, or otherwise combative language, or any sort of excessive noises or gestures. In general, a purposeful distraction is defined as any sort of behavior that is explicitly intended to distract another player during gameplay, throwing them off of their competitive mindset and hampering their overall performance. Determining what is and is not a purposeful distraction is usually the responsibility of the match’s presiding official. Purposeful distractions can be called against both players and audience members, and different disciplinary actions are present for both in most competitive rulesets.
Disciplinary Action
After it’s determined that a player or spectator has committed a purposeful distraction, rulesets provide the presiding official of the match with a very clear set of disciplinary actions to take. Usually, the penalty for a first offense is different from the penalty for the second or even a rare third. If a player who’s participating in the match distracts an opponent that they are throwing alongside, their score for that throw is zeroed out. If a league member or tournament participant who isn’t participating commits purposeful distraction in the match, they will be penalized with a zeroed score on the first throw of their next league or tournament game. Any general audience member who commits a purposeful distraction will be immediately removed from the premises of the match.
Upon a second offense, the penalties get far more severe. If a player participating in a match commits a second purposeful offense, they will immediately forfeit the game, and zeroed scores will be entered in official records. If a league member or tournament participant commits a second purposeful distraction while watching a match, they will also automatically forfeit their next upcoming tournament match, and zeroed scores will be entered in official records. For third offenses, penalties become extremely severe, in order to remove offensive individuals from play in a more comprehensive way. Third offenses from both participating players or spectating league members will result in a season-long suspension, which will prevent them from playing in any official league setting for the remainder of the competitive season.
Game Fixing
Given the strong commitment to professionalism and sportsmanship by most competitive axe throwing leagues, it makes sense that the act of fixing a game would be considered an exceptionally grave offense. Fixing a game is defined as the act of changing the circumstances of the game, such as altering official equipment or convincing a player to purposefully lose. If a player is found to have fixed a match, they will be immediately and completely banned from all future league matches. If they wish to return to official league play, banned players are able to appeal their bans with the league’s commissioner after a year has passed.