How to Play American Football

HOW TO PLAY AMERICAN FOOTBALL The five important fundamentals of offence and defence are line play, backfield play, tackling, passing and kicking.

Line Play.

Line play is by far the most important. On offence the player takes a crouching position on hands and feet by placing half of his weight on each, with arms extended from the ground, elbows as stiff as possible, backbone line straight and inclined slightly upward, one foot forward of the other, with head held back so eyes face straight ahead. He must have bal ance. When he charges his opponent, he must do so with short, piston-like steps, with the rear leg always applying the power.

On defence position of middle or centre, linemen remain the same : when they charge they should immediately raise arms, keeping forearms stiff and using their hands freely to break through opponents. The tackles and ends on defence take an other position, with one foot behind the other, slightly spread, and both hands swinging slowly until the ball is passed, then their hands cross line of scrimmage, with forearms rigid, and they use hands freely on opponents. The defensive lineman should keep eyes open while breaking through line of scrimmage.

It is necessary for linemen, either on offence or defence, to get the jump on opponents; that is, to leave their marks quickly and with all power and speed possible. In charging or blocking opponent, the offensive lineman must not use hands or hold the opponent in any way. He can by use of head and neck, assist his charging greatly.

The three methods of defensive line play are: (I) in, under and up; (2) knifing; and (3) splitting. In, under and up is placing head and shoulders under opposing lineman and lifting up in time to stop ball carrier. Knifing is twisting the body and shoulders through the offensive line. Splitting is using one hand on each of two opponents, thus dividing them as defensive man makes charge. In both offensive and defensive football the original charge is straight ahead, and fighting should continue until ball carrier is tackled.

Backfield Play.

A backfield man should take offensive posi tion well balanced, with tips of fingers of one hand touching ground, ready to catch ball with hands when passed to him by centre, looking straight ahead always. When receiving ball, one end should be in cup of hand and he should clamp arm down on ball so it is held tightly against his side. When he is tackled, he should immediately place other hand on ball, using it as cushion to break fall.

The back must side-step, pivot and cross-step when carrying ball. When using straight-arm he should hold arm rigid and snap defensive player's head or shoulders as latter is about to make tackle. When bucking line, he should hit it with head down and eyes up, body slanting forward, using short piston-like steps, and lifting knees as high as possible. In open field he should run as swiftly as possible, never giving any ground to opponents, but always going ahead so that when tackled he falls forward.

The most important backfield man in any combination is the back who has ability to block his opponent. To block an oppo nent, he must turn slightly while driving through air so as to hit opponent with the side of body or hip with enough speed and force to break through defensive man's stiff forearms. On de fence the backfield man must be alert and must not leave position until he makes sure which man is carrying ball. His tackle should be hard and aggressive, and he must keep his eyes open. He should always try to develop his passing and kicking ability.

Tackling.

Two methods of tackling are employed by foot ball coaches. One is to leave feet just before hitting ball the other, and probably better method, is running low with head down and eyes up, grasping op ponent around legs just ' above knees and pulling him toward the body ; at the same moment the tackler lifts with his shoul ders, at all times making the man carrying ball land on ground first.

The opponent can be momen tarily stopped or checked even though held only by finger tips.

Kicking.

A kicker lines up approximately so yd. behind centre. He should stand with arms extended, one foot behind other. Upon catching ball from centre, he takes one step for ward, holding ball with both hands, with lacing on upper right part of ball. When the foot comes in contact with ball, toe should be extended so that foot hits as large a surface of ball as possible, landing on outside of instep. It is necessary to follow through, that is, to have the foot follow ball after contact. When ball is kicked, kicker should spread arms to side in order to keep bal ance and driving leg straight. A spiral kick is best, because it spirals through air and gets greater height and distance. A player catching punts should attempt to catch the ball—with hands extended but not tense—just below eyes, letting ball drop into hands as an outfielder in baseball would catch a long hit fly ball.

Forward Pass.

To throw a forward pass lay ball diagonally across palm of hand with tips of fingers gripping lacing of ball, the nose of ball extended slightly upward. The hand of the passer should follow the ball through. An over-hand spiral is the best pass to throw. When a player is attempting to throw a forward pass he should have his left hand and arm extended in order to prevent any player rushing him from reaching ball. A forward pass should never be thrown toward the side-line or flank, unless there is no possible chance of interception. When he is throw ing a pass down field he should throw as high as receiver can reach, as it is better to have an incompleted pass go over receiver's head than to have it fall too short. A pass should be thrown with a slight trajectory, as this makes an easier ball to catch. When defending against a forward pass, never let the man making catch get behind you.

(J.

F. ME.) Football signals enable the quarter-back, the field captain, to transmit his orders to his team in terms not understood by the opponents. Football signals are commands. They are given in one of four ways: by signs, words, letters and numbers. Num ber signals are most generally used. However, deaf mutes use sign signals, and to some extent signs, words and letters are used by all teams in special plays. The three uses for football signals are : to designate the formation and the play to be used from that formation; as a snap or starting signal so that all members of a team know when the ball is to be put into play without the necessity of watching the ball; as defensive signals. The first two are used by an offensive team, the team in possession of the ball; while the third is used by a defensive team, the team without the ball. Defensive signals, usually given by the centre, determine what each man of the defence must do. There are various de fensive signals because varied forms of attack are met differently on defence.

A signal must be plain and simple enough so that it will be easily and quickly understood by the players on the offence. Leading coaches agree that the best system of signals is to have one number or signal for each play. This number or signal not only tells each player the formation from which the play is to be run but tells him what he is to do in that play, i.e., whether the player blocks, runs with the ball, goes out to receive a pass, kicks, goes down under a punt, makes the pass, etc. All systems of signals are made up with companion plays. The odd number play will go to the right of the line and the even number play to the left, or vice versa. For example, a play 21 would go to the right of the line, 22 would be the same play only to the left side of the line. This play number can be easily concealed so that it will be impossible for the opposing team to detect it. For example : 21 may represent a play number and the number for the play to be used may be given by using the second number called, as 18-21-23, 21 being the play number. This can be changed to the third or fourth number by inserting meaningless numbers. For instance, any number ending in five may be used as a blank number so far as offence is concerned, as 35-18-21-23. To the defensive team 21 is now the third number but to the offence it is still the second number called because any number ending with a five is not counted.

The "huddle," which is being extensively used, enables the players to hear the signals easily without the opponents hearing them. Thus, it is only necessary for the quarter-back to call the actual play number, as 21 in the above example. Any other play number may be given in the same way. See Spalding Official Foot ball Guide. (F. H. Y.)