Lineman/judge pre-snap hand signals.

[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.