Positioning of R
 

I have been a white hat for several years now. My old crew dissolved and I hooked on with another crew. They do things a little different and I wanted an opinion here.

I normally always stayed on the passing arm side of the QB, even if it wasn't the "wide side" of the field. The new crew wants me to always be on the wide side of the field. I don't feel comfortable moving all the time. It appears that the NF allows for either mechanic.

Thoughts???

Passing arm side. Period. I wouldn't go anywhere else.

You're the referee. You get to make those kinds of decisions.

Agreed 100%

Thirded.

Passing arm only. And don't let the rest of the crew tell you where to line up. That is your job.

I agree, passing arm side.

And, kicking foot side for Punts: FG and PAT always facing holder

I agree with you all. I have been a white hat at the varsity level for about 8 years now. I just want to work well with the new crew. Last Friday was to be our first game together but.................I am a police officer and an inmate from the local state prison escaped that day. I worked 13 hours and missed my game. Will try it again tomorrow.

I have asked 4 clinicians in Illinois. Three say arm side. One says that with a 5 man crew the R should stay between the hashes regardless of what arm the QB throws with. The one who said that is the head clinician and rules interpreter for the state of Illinois. What to do, what to do????

Here is his email:

The HS manual was written by men who were influenced by college mechanics which is 7-man. With HS mechanics, if the R starts on the throwing arm of the QB, if the play goes the other way, the R, who's not 18 years old, has to cover more than 2/3 of the field to stay with the play. That's not practical.

The HS Ref should stay between the hashes and not concern himself with the throwing arm of the QB.

Hope this helps.

Absolutely!

Sounds like very PRACTICAL advice. Positioning on the passer's arm side is the recommended mechanic, and may work exceptionally well. It is not a dictate however, and nobody knows you and your capabilities better than YOU.

"One size fits ALL", never ALWAYS works. If you believe you do a better job and provide better coverage favoring the "wide" side, that's a decision you should make. If you're more comfortable favoring the Passer's arm, and that works better for you, that's fine too.

Recommended mechanics are based on consideration of mountains of data, and usually make a lot of sense and should absolutely be seriously considered, but may not apply to everyone, all the time.

You have almost nothing else to do but watch the QB or things around the QB. And no one but the Referee has the QB getting hit or what he is doing with his arm. I would have to tell that crew what I am going to do and they would have to deal with it. I see no benefit for being on the wide side in 4, 5, 6 or 7 person mechanics. What do you need to be wide for in the first place? IR, what is their logic? BTW, that is not the state's mechanics at all.

Peace

For 5-man, I agree with your clinician. It's very rare for me to have to rule on the QB's arm motion compared with the number of times I have to cover a RB going OOB on the wide side.

If the QB drops back & sets up in the pocket, I can easily adjust my position to get an angle on his arm.

Does your state have a mechanics manual? If it does follow it. In Ohio the R is on the wide side. If the ball is in the middle, pick whichever side you want.

What are your wing officials and back judge doing ?? Taking a nap !!! :eek::eek::eek:

For 5-man ... why in the world do you care about the RB going OOB on the wide side. Not your job.

For 3 or 4-man, if a linesman goes with a receiver, I can see the point.

I think that's the issue. The State manual says Arm-side; his state rules guy is saying the opposite.