Double Dribble lost ball Control

Question
Hi Bret

I was watching my sons basketball game where his teammate was dribbling in the front court, attempted to stop his dribble but lost the ball, the ball bouncing away from him down the court.  He caught up to the ball resuming the dribble never having actually picked up the ball and controlled it.  The ref called a double dribble violation. Having been a CIF level referee for several years, though many years ago, I immediately thought it was incorrect or a very strict interpretation of double dribble.  In your view of the rule, would this example be a double dribble?

Thank you for the clarification.

Answer
HI Todd,

You are correct. That was an incorrect call by the official. A player is aloud to fumble the ball, recover and then dribble again. The player lost control of the ball, therefore there cannot be a violation called.

Thanks for your question.