Official Rules
The complete ruleset governing competitive dooramp. Subject to revision by the NDL Rules Committee.
Current Rules
A pop up is the action required to make the ball live. A ball if half-live when the ball is possessable by the player's hands, but not scorable such as during inbounding.
1.1 — How to Pop Up
- a)Before a legal pop up the ball must have touched the tramp on a play
- b)The ball must come down onto someone's knee or head otherwise an up and up penalty takes place
- i)If a ball is headed down an up and down penalty is called which has the same effect as an up and up
- c)The ball must come up to be popped up. For example a ball cannot rest on someone's knee or head and be popped up
- d)When a ball is kicked off the dome, it is a live ball.
1.2 — Maintaining a Live Ball
- a)As soon as a ball touches the ground, it is dead and has to be made live again to be possessed by a player's hands
- b)Once a ball is live it is anyone's ball and can be taken by anyone on either team
- c)The ring on the tramp and dome act as reboundable surfaces and the ball maintains live status after hitting them as long as it was already live.
- i)It is still possessable by player's hands if it is half live, but not scorable because the ball has to touch the tramp before it can be scored.
- d)Unique courts have variable reboundable surfaces. For example, the ball's live off the bricks at the BDT's court.
Coming into 2026
New and updated rules for the 2026 season.
3-Pointer Off the Dome Stays Live
TemporaryIf a 3-point shot hits the dome and comes back into play, it is still considered live. Players may attempt to score off the rebound as normal.
Bounce-In Shots Count
TemporaryShots that bounce off the ground or walls before entering the basket count as valid baskets. Point value is determined by the original shot distance.
Free Throw Fadeaway Off Back of Trampoline
TemporaryA free throw must be taken as a fadeaway shot on the back of the tramp. The shooter must release the ball mid-air and land off of the back of the tramp similar to how shooting for the ball is done.
Rule Archive
A log of changes made to the official ruleset over time.
Section 10 renamed from Time Keeping/Starting to Order of the Game, and two subsections added. 10.3 covers timeouts and substitutions: one timeout per team per half, callable only with possession and only between plays, with referees able to stop the clock at any time. Injury timeouts may be called mid-play, but points scored during a false injury timeout still count, and substitutions happen during timeouts and free throws. 10.4 adds challenges: a call may be challenged as soon as a play ends, teams get two incorrect challenges before losing the right, and a failed computer challenge ends challenges for the game — though a computer challenge remains available after a normal challenge is lost. Once the next play begins, the previous play can no longer be challenged.
First possession moved out of Section 6 into a new Section 10 (Time Keeping/Starting), and Section 6 renumbered accordingly. Quarter possession now follows the NBA pattern — the team that didn't start the game starts the 2nd and 3rd, the starting team takes the 4th — and each overtime period begins with a fresh shot for the ball that either team may take. The Ben rule was extended: Ben must inbound the ball himself, not just his team, and he starts every quarter but no overtime period. Section 9.2 also gained a clarification that a player pushed out of bounds into the goaltending zone is not goaltending, provided they immediately try to get back in bounds or out of the way.
Added rule 8.1.c.i clarifying that grass is not considered the ground for grounding purposes. A player whose toes touch grass blades while releasing a shot is not grounded, provided they get the shot off before hitting the ground.
Section 5 (Free Throws) now specifies who shoots: the fouled player shoots for a personal foul, while the shooting team picks who shoots after 3 technical fouls or NPs.
The full 9-section current ruleset, and an earlier archived version of the rules, were published to the site for the first time.