Hello to all my striped brothers,(and sisters also). I call the sport where you get to use the bats, but love the game of Football as a spectator. I have often wondered, how do you judge where to place the ball on a punt which goes out of bounds? It seems that would be a hard spot to make, so how do those mechanics work?, and who makes the spot? Thanks in advance

If it goes out in the air, the wing official on that side will go deeper then where the ball went up and walk back up field. When he get's to the spot where the ball went out, the referee signals to him.

It's the referee's call.

That explains what the wing guy is looking at, I have noticed at least two working in tandem. What does the referee use as a visual indicator? or is it just experience? (read educated guess). I think it would be a difficult spot to judge, yet I don't see much arguement from benches on that type of placement.

The R moves to the spot where the kicker punted the ball and raises his hand. He then picks out a spot in the stands or sidelines on the path of the ball, such as an aisleway or light pole.

When the linesman walks under that spot, he chops him down and that will be the proper yardline.

Another method that I have used as BJ, if the kick goes out on the fly, is if I can see and get to the exact spot where the ball hits out of bounds, I then walk straight toward R and the spot where my path toward R intersects with the sideline is the yardline where the kick went out of bounds. No R that I have ever worked with has had a problem with that mechanic.

I will assume also that the R has placed himself at the spot where the K kicked the ball.

That being said, is this mechanic susceptible to a ball taking a curved path in the air due to wind?

Yes. R would need to stand where the ball was kicked from.

Yes it would be susceptible to a ball taking a curved path in the air due to wind, however if wind is a factor it is also difficult for R to determine the ball's position when it crosses the plane of the sideline. Your point is well taken and if the game were being played on a windy day, that fact should be discussed in the pre-game as to how R and BJ are going to handle that situation.

By the way, how does one get the exact post that they are replying to to display in bold text in the reply as you did with your reply to me? Thanks.

Just push the QUOTE tab at the bottom of the post you wish to reply to.

Nobody is going to know better where the ball went OOB than R standing where the ball was kicked. Even with the wind making the ball curve only a coach standing directly under the kick when it goes OOB would have a better idea.

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Nobody is going to know better where the ball went OOB than R standing where the ball was kicked. Even with the wind making the ball curve only a coach standing directly under the kick when it goes OOB would have a better idea. [/B][/QUOTE]

I gotta agree with this. Best you can do is just go with the spot of kick and landing spot. If you have extremely high winds and it is obvious the ball curved. Possible a wing official might have more of an idea.