Punts

[Theisey]

Originally Posted by stegenref

So I've been studying punts a lot the last few days...seems to me like these are the most common scenarios of what could happen and what I (as a back judge) should do during each of them.

- R1 catches punt and starts running with it...I need to bean bag the spot where he gained possession.
- R1 signals for a fair catch and catches it...I need to blow my whistle and bean bag the spot.
- R1 tries to catch the punt, but muffs it. K can recover, but not advance.
- R1 catches it, starts to run, but fumbles. K can recover and advance. I should bean bag the end of the kick (where R1 gained possession) and also bean bag the spot of the fumble.
- If K1 touches the ball before R1 touches it, I should bean bag it as first touching, since R could choose to take the ball there. If R then gains possession, I also have to bean bag that spot as well.
- If ball goes out of bound, I need to blow my whistle and mark the spot.

Anything else?

Don't think these are very common, but they could happen...

1)R1 catches the scrimmage kick and starts running, then waves is hand over his head.
fill in you answer here:___________________________

2) R1 signals for a fair catch, lets the ball go and blocks K44 to prevent him from downing the ball.
fill in you answer here:___________________________

Other things to think about are the those things that can happen near the goal line (plane). Like where the ball is when R1 tries to catch/recovery the scrimmage kick.

[NorCalRef12]

Originally Posted by Theisey

1)R1 catches the scrimmage kick and starts running, then waves is hand over his head.
fill in you answer here:___________________________

2) R1 signals for a fair catch, lets the ball go and blocks K44 to prevent him from downing the ball.
fill in you answer here:___________________________

Here is another one I just saw last week.

R1 is near the sideline at the R 20 yard line. The ball bounces up to around chest level where, and this is the best way I can describe it, he pushes the ball out of bounds at the R25 yard line. It looked like a "set" from volleyball.

[Forksref]

BJ or LJ job is to beanbag the end of the kick, and that includes a FC. Ball can be displaced.

Muffed punts are the most common times that we have an IW. That is why we drop the whistle from our mouth after the snap. Late whistles are better than early whistles.

[With_Two_Flakes]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

What's it hurt? The bag's in my hand, it signals the end of the kick, I drop it.

Key point from RichMSN here that maybe some folks might skim past and miss as they read it. The bag is in your hand ready before the ball is even snapped.

Carrying it in your hand feels different to downs 1, 2 and 3 and helps you to remember to drop it. When assessing a crew, the times I see someone forget to bag the end of a kick or a first touching / illegal touching is when they don't have it in their hand.