Lineman/judge pre-snap hand signals.

[sloth]

I Like to keep it simple. I only punch if the widest recieve is off the line. I have also found it is easier to simply count the players off the LOS and see what my white hat has for number of offensive players.

I think the onyl other signal we hive is a "two sticks" (greater than 10yards for a 1st down) signal.

I noticed on the ESPN coverage last saturday of a HS game in Summerville, SC that the wing officials put both arms out at a 45 degree angle with the ground prior to the sanp...anyone know what that is about?

[wisref2]

Another tip - when the play comes to your sideline, get BEHIND the play! Otherwise you're going to end up IN the play.

Let's say it's a sweep to your side. Move into the backfield a few steps so the runner is ahead of you - then, and only then, should you start moving upfield to cover the play.

If the play ends up out of bounds, mark your spot while facing the pile, not the field. The spot isn't going to move, so keep your eyes on the players.

[bisonlj]

The balanced line/unbalanced line signals have never made sense to me. I've never heard a mechanic or key that changes based on whether or not the line is balanced. The only place I've heard it applied is when determining 7 on the line. To me it is so much easier to verify there are 11 and then count 4 in the back field. "Punching Back" helps both the receiver on your end and the other wing. Nobody has ever been able to explain why counting linemen on your side of the ball is better or easier than counting the number of backs.

[dvasques]

Guys, I'm absolutely happy that I've found this forum a while ago since my biggest problem with officials down here in Rio is that there's never been a machanic manual to go through. I recently found and started to translate a 2006 Manual from San Diego and loved to find out something I had no clue. But this manual doesn't have anything specific on hand signals. Does anybody have that and could send me? I'd apreciate very much
my e-mail is [email protected]
thanks alot and keep the info coming coz I'm creating a Machanics Manual for my rules down here

[rdfox]

The tip I would give is over-communicate with the head coach who is right behind you. Call him by name (i.e. "Coach Jones") early in the contest. Find out for him what the penalty is when you see a flag on the ground. Always be respectful and when he does "cross the line", ask him if we wants a timeout to speak with the R. That almost always hushes him up.

Also, find out the ball person's name, and use it to keep him/her near you. Otherwise, you may be down on the 5-yard line with a wet ball and they are hacking around up on the 30. Not good.

Also, on our crew, it is the R and U who use the hand-on-the-face signal to acknowledge between them that they have a covered up tight-end (unbalanced line). They are the ones who will see him go downfield on a pass and throw the flag when the pass crosses the scrimmage line. You can't ask wing officials to do this.

[Welpe]

As a new official, this has been a good read, especially since I will be working primarily at LJ and HL this year.

I had scrimmages last weekend, and while I felt I understood the mechanics pretty well, I felt shaky on my coverage during passing plays and what I was supposed to be looking at. I have gotten some good advice from officials in my association but do you folks have any tips for pass coverage in four man mechanics?

[The Roamin' Umpire]

Originally Posted by Welpe

As a new official, this has been a good read, especially since I will be working primarily at LJ and HL this year.

I had scrimmages last weekend, and while I felt I understood the mechanics pretty well, I felt shaky on my coverage during passing plays and what I was supposed to be looking at. I have gotten some good advice from officials in my association but do you folks have any tips for pass coverage in four man mechanics?

Watch the players. You need to know roughly when/where the ball is coming, but mostly watch the players. Keep a wide enough angle so that you can see action around the primary receiver.

Up through the HS level, receivers will often show you if they expect the ball or not - if they start sprinting at the snap, you'd better get on your horse, too. You need to go with the deepest man on your side, but you don't need to be stride-for-stride with him. In fact, you NEVER want to be even with a receiver when the ball arrives - it will make it much harder to see what's going on. Try to keep the deep man within 10 yards and stay wide until the ball is thrown, then if the pass is toward the middle of the field, you can start moving in as you proceed downfield.

If you've got twins or trips to your side, and the pass is to one of the short receivers, try to be still when the ball arrives so that you get the best look possible at the play. You're going to be ahead of the play, so once the catch is made, treat it like a normal run play: stay wide and let the runner go by you.

If there appear to be no receivers on your side of the field on a pass play, look for someone crossing from the opposite side - you may still need to bust downfield to make a call on a deep ball. If not, you can watch some of the backside blocking, especially if the QB is rolling out to the opposite side. (Make sure any flag you throw is for a foul that materially affects the play or for a safety foul.)

[NDRef]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

The balanced line/unbalanced line signals have never made sense to me. I've never heard a mechanic or key that changes based on whether or not the line is balanced. The only place I've heard it applied is when determining 7 on the line. To me it is so much easier to verify there are 11 and then count 4 in the back field. "Punching Back" helps both the receiver on your end and the other wing. Nobody has ever been able to explain why counting linemen on your side of the ball is better or easier than counting the number of backs.

As a wing I will not argue about "better or easier", but will state how our crew uses the balanced/unbalanced signals. These signals aid in the communication of the entire crew. When we count lineman and we are unbalanced, we now have a player who is "covered up" by someone else on the end of the line of scrimmage. If the player who is covered is wearing a number that allows him to "normally" be eligible to catch a pass--our signals have now communicated to each wing and the back judge (and the referee) that we have a potential ineligible in the line of scrimmage. The normal "keys" will be impacted if this "ineligible" runs a fly pattern right at the back judge and a pass is thrown. Because of our signals we are all aware of the penalty\potential penalty.

Just food for thought on how\why we use the signals.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by NDRef

As a wing I will not argue about "better or easier", but will state how our crew uses the balanced/unbalanced signals. These signals aid in the communication of the entire crew. When we count lineman and we are unbalanced, we now have a player who is "covered up" by someone else on the end of the line of scrimmage. If the player who is covered is wearing a number that allows him to "normally" be eligible to catch a pass--our signals have now communicated to each wing and the back judge (and the referee) that we have a potential ineligible in the line of scrimmage. The normal "keys" will be impacted if this "ineligible" runs a fly pattern right at the back judge and a pass is thrown. Because of our signals we are all aware of the penalty\potential penalty.

Just food for thought on how\why we use the signals.

Just because you have an unbalanced line doesn't mean you have a covered tight end. This could be the line of scrimmage:

TE OL C OL OL OL SE

You've got 2 on one side and 4 on the other but no normally eligible receiver is covered up. Am I missing something?

rdfox made a similar comment regarding covered receivers being the responsibility of the R and U. I disagree. The R is watching the quarterback and has no idea what is happening down field. The U is keyed on the linemen and line of scrimmage. In the situation of a covered receiver, I find it easier for a wing official to make note of, watch that receivers initial move, and determine if he may violate the rule at that point. If he goes downfield then pay attention to where the ball goes if there is a pass. It doesn't happen very often and I've found it easy to officiate while not giving up on my other normal keys.

[NDRef]

[QUOTE=bisonlj]Just because you have an unbalanced line doesn't mean you have a covered tight end. This could be the line of scrimmage:

TE OL C OL OL OL SE

You've got 2 on one side and 4 on the other but no normally eligible receiver is covered up. Am I missing something?

Which is why I said "IF (see my response) the player who is covered" is wearing a number that is normally eligible.

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

rdfox made a similar comment regarding covered receivers being the responsibility of the R and U. I disagree. The R is watching the quarterback and has no idea what is happening down field. The U is keyed on the linemen and line of scrimmage. In the situation of a covered receiver, I find it easier for a wing official to make note of, watch that receivers initial move, and determine if he may violate the rule at that point. If he goes downfield then pay attention to where the ball goes if there is a pass. It doesn't happen very often and I've found it easy to officiate while not giving up on my other normal keys.

I agree with this. We had a situation where A only had 10 on the field (they were missing their TE). The QB kept yelling the kids name, and he finally ran onto the field. Of course he lined up on the wrong side (my side) and was covered by the split end. They run the play and the TE catches a pass and runs for a touchdown.

Of course everyone, except the coach, is screaming in excitement. We nearly got boo'ed off the field by the fans, but when I reported the foul to the coach, he nodded and said "I know, I know. I thought that is what happened." (Worst part was, this was before the change in illegal touching.)

In our post-game, our R and U were very appreciative. There was no way they would know that the TE was covered. And I did exactly what bisonlj said. Just kept a note that the TE was covered and watched where the ball went.

[andy1033]

Take 2 beanbags with you. Give one to Box man when inside the 10 yardline to mark spot of the box if he has to move for players,

[Time2Ref]

Always remember to get your clip back

[Welpe]

Thanks, Roamin' Ump. That's exactly what I was looking for. Now if I can just put it into practice tonight.