Free Kick Lines

[Jim S]

We had this last year. Coaches on a team that was scored on went ballistic. Charging the field, language, etc. By the end of the choices the scoring team kicked off from the 3 3/4 yard line. (They declined the last penalty that would have made it the 1 3/8!)
We had the "receiving" team lined up back 6+ yards deep in the EZ. Used the side guys as the restraining line. We also told the R players, who were worried about an 'on-side' kick that they needn't worry since the ball couldn't go the necessary ten yards. They relaxed and didn't even leave their "line"
when the ball was kicked.
The kicking team knew what to do also. The kicker approached the ball and tapped it with his foot. It fell off the tee and laid there and we blew the whistle for a loose ball that no one was attempting to recover.
Of course the coaches (what were left of them) on the receiving team wanted a penalty on K becuase "The kick HAS to go 10 yards or it's not legal!"

Right coach.......

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Jim S

The kicking team knew what to do also. The kicker approached the ball and tapped it with his foot. It fell off the tee and laid there and we blew the whistle for a loose ball that no one was attempting to recover.
Of course the coaches (what were left of them) on the receiving team wanted a penalty on K becuase "The kick HAS to go 10 yards or it's not legal!"

This is a difference between pro & amateur rules. NFL still has a "short free kick" provision that applies no matter how the ball becomes dead. IIRC, so does Canadian football, both pro & am. In Rugby Union, the other team is even allowed to play the ball within 10m and if they get no advantage, the kicking team is penalized if the referee judges that the kick would not have reached the 10m line anyway, i.e. that the other team's action did not prevent it from doing so.

Used the side guys as the restraining line.

Why not use the first down chain? Or was that in addition?