Covering Field Goal with 5-man mechanics (NFHS)

[bisonlj]

We tried to use the new mechanic last year but having to remember which wing goes under the upright depending on both end of field and kicking leg of kicker created too many situations where we didn't get to the upright in time. It's easier to remember the LJ is the one who always goes back and the L can focus on the same thing for every kick.

Mechanics are designed to cover the most likely situations and make sure they are covered. I've been officiating for 8 years now and have had to bust to the sideline as a LJ a great total of TWICE. To adjust your mechanics to cover something that happens very rarely is a bad idea. I understand the philosophy of alternating which wing covers the goal post but it just didn't work for us.

Also, we have the BJ alone on field goals snapped from the 20 or farther out. He has plenty of time to get to a challenge goal post. This type of play is much more likely to have something crazy happen back at the line of scrimmage and having the LJ there can only help.

[Warrenkicker]

Originally Posted by bisonlj

We tried to use the new mechanic last year but having to remember which wing goes under the upright depending on both end of field and kicking leg of kicker created too many situations where we didn't get to the upright in time. It's easier to remember the LJ is the one who always goes back and the L can focus on the same thing for every kick....

Not to criticize your crew but someone is not recognizing the situation early enough if you are having problems moving to these positions. The only time we have ever had an issue was when R didn't recognize which foot the kicker was using so he was on the wrong side of the formation to begin with and when he noticed his problem there was not time to switch us back.

When we have a swinging gate formation we stay in the standard positions and then shift to the goal post when they shift into a standard kicking formation. There is more than enough time to do this if you see what is happening soon enough. Once you do this a few times it is easy to remember which way to shift.