Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-01
EXPLAINS
PRESENT RULES
ON SHIFT PLAY
Attempt to Check Bewildering
Changes Without Com
plete Stops.
By WALTER CAMP
speclaI Corrs,pondent Of The ersat FsIls TrIbuns

Special Correspondent Of The Great Falls Tribune
Copyright. 1922. by The Great Falls Tribune
New York, Sept. 3O.-Speaking as a
member of the football rules commit
tee. the writer can testify that the
greatest interest throughout the
try in the rule interpretations relates
to the shift. The shift means men
moving TO new positions just before the
ball has been snapped. 1t was charged
in the cases of some successful elevens
last year that the men were In motion
after the ball was snapped. Obviously
a defense is petty hard put to diagnose
a play when this occurs.
Again, where the shifting Is well
timed, it is very difficult for IN Off
cial TO determine exactly whether 1t
had absolutely ceased before the ball
was put into play. There has been q
great deal of contention for years with
regard to shift plays, and the complete
meaning of the new shift rule has been
naturally enough regarded as of utmost
Importance.
1t was framed by the rules commit
tee after receiving reports OF coaches
and officials last spring, and the stlp-
ulation contemplated the trouble that
arose in the season of 1921 over these
much discussed plays. The precise
wording of the new rule may be divid-
ed into separate sections, which viii
give a clear idea of what has finally
been determined in the way Of exact
application.
One Player Only In Motion
First, then. the rule is the same as
II has been for years in providing that
no players of the side putting the ball
into play may be in motion when the
ball is snapped. with the single excep-
ton that one player only of that side
may be in motion either directly or
~obliquely toward his own goal behind
him. In other words, he may not be
moving either forward toward his OPP
p~onents' goal or even parallel to the
scrimmage line.
SECONDHAND this is newt he
leaves the scrimmage line in a shift
formation, he must be at least five
wards back of the scrimmage line when
the ball is put in play. Ut is under
stood, of course, that in leaving a
seven-man scrimmage line, this player
must be replaced by another man, as
there must be seven men on the line of
scrimmage when the ball is snapped
This five yard back stipulation applies
only to a shifting line player; it does
not apply TO q back.
Both Feet on Ground
Third. as to what constitutes a man
in motion is clearly defined in the Ian
guage Of the rule and its accompanying
note. The player must have both feet
stationary upon the ground at the time
the bali it put in play. Moreover, he
must come to a full stop, and a suf-
ficient momentary pause must occur to
enable officials to see that the play Is
legal. He must make a new start from
a position of rest when the ball is
snapped back. -.
1t is clear, of course, that shift
plays most certainly will abount this
year and that the rules have not elm
mated this recently developed form OF
| attack. What the rule does is to pre-
vent PLAYERS from doing as they have
been doing in the past few seasons;
that is, starting on Il run and merely
doing a sort of quick hitch or hop an
instant before the ball was snapped
which hardly checked their momentum
Fair Catch Rule
Another rule Interpretation which
will prove valuable to officials relates
TO the fair catch rule. 1t is provided
in the new code hat II more than one
PLAYER on the side having an opportu-
| nitv to make a fair catch gives the
catching signal, the fair catch shall not
be allowed, nor shall the player .ac'
tually catching the ball be permitted tc
make a run. 1t must be put In scrlm'
mage at the point of the catch.
Some contention was raised to the
| effect that this would permit the kick
| er's side, in case more than de
tending player %signaled for a fail
| catch, to charge indiscriminately ano
knock down any man who had oppor'
| tunity to make the catch. This Is quite
untrue, as Rule XIV distinctly provides
| that when q player has an opportunity