Possession (sports) determined by several methods, including a coin flip (American football and cricket), home team status (baseball), or by giving the teams an equal opportunity to physically take possession; this may be called a dropped-ball (association football), a ball-up (Australian rules football), a jump ball (basketball), or a face-off (hockey). In some timed sports, the team with possession may try to "run time off the clock" by keeping the ball and not attempting to score, in order to deny the opposing team possession. A shot clock speeds gameplay by requiring teams to attempt to score within a certain period of time
Holding the ball actions of the tackler make it impossible for him to effect a disposal does not change these requirements. Law 15.2.2 specifies that a player who is executing a running bounce or is handpassing to himself without the ball touching the ground is still considered to be in possession of the ball, even when it is not in his hands. The practical consequence of this law is that a player who executes either of these skills while being tackled is automatically considered to be holding the ball under the prior opportunity rule. Holding the ball, and at times its pairing with