Measurement After marking off penalty.

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by Rich

If you start every first down play on a yard line, you rarely have to measure.

I had the chains out once all season, for effect on a fourth down play I knew was 3 inches short.

Yep. Start the first down on a yard line as much as possible.

When it's not possible:
1) close to the end zone (going in our out). We usually say inside the 15.
2) When a fourth-down play leaves the ball a few inches short of the line-to-gain. (regardless of if you measured or not, although if it's that close you should probably measure for effect).
3) When a play leaves the ball a few inches beyond the line-to-gain and you had to measure to see if it was a first down.

We measured after three consecutive plays once this year... it was on a grass field with a very pronounced crown that made it hard to see from one sideline to the other. We were six inches short, then 2 inches short, then 3 inches beyond the line-to-gain.