A commonly used football term that might confuse you when you are first starting to watch the game is The Line Of Scrimmage. As I listen to the games I hear it referred to quite a bit by the broadcasters and I have also noticed that it is pretty important in Kaden’s flag football games. There are a lot of seven and eight year olds along with 38 and 40 year olds that don’t know what the line of scrimmage is! So without further ado Mother and Son Sports brings you the Line of Scrimmage.
The first step to understanding the line of scrimmage is to know that it is an invisible line. If you are watching your son or daughters football game there will be no actual line to refer to. Quick tip: When watching an NFL game on TV the blue line across your screen is the line of scrimmage, remember it’s not an actual line on the field, it is a digital line created by the techno masters of the universe. When the players line up they need to be in a parallel line behind the football. There is a line of scrimmage for both offense and defense and the space between those lines is called the neutral zone. In simple terms: Both teams line up, offense behind the ball, defense facing offense. Both teams must stand still until the ball is hiked.
When starting out in youth football the best tip you can tell your son or daughter is to make sure they are behind the ball! I see a lot of youth wandering around on the field after the play and not quite sure where they need to be. If they are somewhere behind the ball and doing their best to stand still (not an easy task for our youth) then they should be good to go!
Line up, stand still, and remember when watching the NFL the blue line is not real!
by Stacey Atkinson