Free Kick Rules

[The Roamin' Umpire]

Originally Posted by U52

In our pre game last Friday, we had a great discussion about Free Kick Rules. One of the two teams playing this night has a history of kicking from one hash and kicking it high across the field about 20-25 yards to the other hash. During our pre-game I mentioned that if K was to do this, R must have the opportunity to catch the ball and it is not a live ball until 1. It has went 10 yrds. and 2. It has touched the ground. We had a great debate about #2 and we are all checking our rules books for the this. Any help would be appreciated.

Let's be a little careful with our terminology. The ball is live as soon as it is legally free kicked. The ball may not be legally recovered by K until it has touched the ground or an R player - as pointed out by others, even touching a free kick before it hits the ground or an R player is KCI under Fed rules. (This was blown by one of our most experienced crews in a sectional final a couple of years ago, so I don't think anyone in our association will forget that rule anytime soon.)