Punt (american football)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baylor Bears (in green and white jerseys) punt against Texas A&M

The punt is a play and a kicking technique in American football and Canadian football , in which the punter drops the football and kicks it to the opposing team before it hits the ground. Since the players of the opposing team usually have the right to be the first to touch the ball in front of the players of the puncturing team, a punt almost always leads to the loss of the right to attack.

execution

American and Canadian Football

The punt is usually carried out if, after the penultimate attempt, it is foreseeable that the gain of ten yards in the last attempt cannot be achieved and the distance for a field goal is too far. While two particularly strong runners (the so-called gunner ) line up on the right and left outside of the line of scrimmage and immediately after the snap run towards the opposing end zone, eight men try to block the punter, who is about 15 yards further back, by blocking time to give the ball after Longsnap wegzupunten with a case kick. The further course of the play can be different and is different from sport to sport.

In both sports the punter of the attacking team tries to kick the ball as far as possible into the opposing half. The opposing team's punt returner catches the ball and carries it forward as far as possible. The previous attacking team tries to stop the ball carrier as quickly as possible and as far back as possible with a tackle . If the punt flies, jumps or rolls over the sideline, the offense begins at precisely this point. Precise punters can pin the opposing team close to their own end zone.

American football

If the punt returner notices that the rushing gunner are too close and no return is possible, he can signal a fair catch and the play ends at the point where he catches the ball without being allowed to be tackled. If the punter kicks the ball so far that it reaches the goal line, this leads to a touchback , whereupon the formerly defending team begins its attack series on its own 20- yard line. A touchback can also be achieved if the ball hits the ground and rolls or bounces unaffected by the opposing team into the end zone . If the returner does not touch the ball, the team that scored will catch the ball near the end zone or touch the rolling ball; as it violates the general right of the opposing team to touch the ball first, it forfeits any right to the ball at this point in the current play. With this so-called "first touching violation" the ball is prevented from rolling into the end zone . Instead of a touchback and the subsequent scrimmage at the 20 yard line, the opposing team must now begin their attack series far back, very close to the end zone at the point of the "violation". If the returner touches the ball in front of the opponent, but does not gain control of it (muff), the ball becomes free and both teams, including players who score, can conquer it, similar to a fumble . If a player of the scoring team conquers the lugged ball, however, the play is ended immediately at the point of conquest.

In American football, the ball may not be punctured after crossing the line of scrimmage. If this is violated, a ten yard penalty is imposed from the place of the punt.

Canadian football

In Canadian Football, every punt may be captured by the opposing team and kicking teams. Players of the kicking team have the same rights to conquer the ball as the players of the expected team if they were behind the punter at the time of the puncture ( onside ). If a player from the expected team tries to conquer the ball, no offside player from the opposing team may be within five yards of it until the first touch, otherwise a penalty ( no yards ) will be pronounced. This penalty is five yards if the ball is already on the ground and fifteen yards if the ball is caught out of air. There are no fair catches in Canadian football. If the ball is brought to the ground in the end zone during a punt, a single is given.

In Canadian Football, you can puncture behind the line of scrimmage and after a forward pass. The same rules apply as for regular punt.

Point formations

UCLA's Eric Kendricks (# 6) blocking a point in the game against USC

In the shield punt formation , an offensive line of five players is positioned two to four yards apart. A gunner stands close to them on each side . About six yards behind you are three players who form the so-called shield , behind is the punter. The middle player of the shield is initially behind one of the other two players so that the snap can reach the punter unhindered. Only then does it form a row with the others. The players on the line of scrimmage block their opponents briefly and then run down the field. All opponents that got through are now picked up by the players in the shield, who hold the blocks much longer. Since in the NFL the players are not allowed to cross the line of scrimmage before the punt, this formation is particularly common in the NCAA . This formation is advantageous in that it enables the punt returner to cover more quickly. The disadvantage is that the punter can usually only see attacking opponents when they have already broken the shield and block the punt.

The spread punt formation is the most common punt formation . It consists of an offensive line and gunner standing eight to ten yards from you on either side. In addition to the offensive line, but slightly backwards, there are two other players and five yards behind one of the guards is an upback . The punter is then about fifteen yards behind the long snapper. This formation is prone to overloading one side by the opponents. A variation of this formation is the tight punt formation . The gunner is replaced by additional blockers and the punter is only about ten yards behind the long snapper. This formation is usually only carried out near one's own end zone , as the rush is played more aggressively here due to the high yield of a block ( touchdown or safety ). Since the end zone is only ten yards deep, no other variant can be played directly on the goal line. The disadvantage is the severe neglect of punt coverage .

technology

For the kick itself, the spiral punt and the end-over-end punt (also rugby punt) are mainly used. In an end-over-end punt, the ball is dropped with the tip pointing downwards and the back half of the ball is kicked. This gives the ball a rotation around the transverse axis, which allows the ball to roll in the direction of the punter instead of in the direction of the opposing end zone after it touches the ground. This is to prevent a touchback. The spiral punt, on the other hand, is dropped parallel to the field and kicked over the entire length of the ball. This causes a rotation around the longitudinal axis, which makes the punt more directionally stable. Compared to the spiral punt, the end-over-end punt is easier to control, harder to block and catch, has a longer hang time, and less fine-tuning is required to determine the power for the desired length. The spiral punt, on the other hand, is a better way to achieve distances of over 40 yards.

Special punts

Onside punt

In Canadian Football there is the possibility that the scoring team wins the ball without a mustache. For this, however, the conquering player must have been standing behind the punter at the time of the puncture, i.e. must have been onside . This is known as an onside punt, analogous to the onside kick . After conquering an onside punt, the ball may continue to be played, which differs from the onside kick. There is also the onside punt in American football; This is the free kick after a safety , which, according to the rule book, can also take place as a punt. The ball is punted as high and short as possible in order to get as many players as possible under the ball. Otherwise, the same rules apply as for the onside kick .

Quick kick

Typically, a team will wait until the last down to poke the ball. If you punctuate before the fourth or third down, it is called a quick kick . The punt must be executed very quickly in order to be successful. The goal of this strategy is to surprise the defense and allow the ball to gain distance or just prevent the defense from returning. This strategy is rarely used because it is unable to provide positive offensive performance. The Quick Kick has been used nine times in the National Football League (NFL) since 1994 .

date team opponent Quarter time Down To go place Score Details
Oct 16, 1994 Eagles Cowboys 2 3 12 PHI 4 7-0 Randall Cunningham punctures 80 yards
03rd Sep 1995 Bears Vikings 2 1 10 CHI 36 7: 7 Todd Sauerbrun scores 39 yards
Dec 28, 2008 Patriots Bills 4th 1:18 3 3 NWE 40 13: 0 Chris Hanson punctures 41 yards, returnet by Fred Jackson for 30 yards (tackled by Matt Slater )
0Oct 6, 2002 Raiders Bills 1 11:08 3 22nd RAI 33 0-0 Shane Lechler punctures 39 yards, returnet by Charlie Rogers for 12 yards (tackled by Zack Crockett )
Oct 23, 1994 Browns Bengals 3 3 12 CLE 21 10:13 Tom Tupa punctures 44 yards, returnet by Darryl Williams for 4 yards (tackled by Eric Metcalf )
Sep 12 1999 Giants Buccaneers 3 11:55 3 4th NYG 49 7:10 Brad Maynard punctures 40 yards out of bounds
Oct 10, 1999 Cowboys Eagles 1 12:07 3 8th PHI 43 0-0 Toby Gowin punctures 41 yards
Dec 28, 2008 Patriots Bills 4th 5:16 3 8th NWE 41 13: 0 Matt Cassel punted 57 yards
Dec 29, 2013 Patriots Bills 3 7:49 3 32 NWE 46 16: 3 Tom Brady punctures 32 yards, Fair Catch by Jim Leonhard

Records

Steve O'Neal, the punter of the New York Jets, shot the longest punt in professional football history . His punt in the AFL game against the Denver Broncos (1969) reached 98 yards. From his own 1-yard line, he kicked the football over Denver's punt returner Bill Thompson, bouncing around the 30-yard line and rolling to the goal line before Thompson picked him up and was tackled at a yard gain. The longest punt in college football was achieved by Pat Brady for Nevada against Loyola Marymount in 1950 with 99 yards . The longest punt in the history of the Canadian Football League was 108 yards. Zenon Adrusyshyn succeeded for the first time on September 14, 1977 for the Toronto Argonauts against the Calgary Stampeders and again for Chris Milo on October 29, 2011 for the Saskatchewan Roughriders against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats .

Meaningfulness

Research by David Romers of the University of California at Berkeley showed that punting in your own half would only be beneficial if the team had to reach more than four yards for a new first down. According to this investigation, it never makes sense to punt in the opposing half. However, the research also found that coaches are much more conservative in their decision. Out of 1,604 times in which, according to the investigation, punting was the better option, nine attempts were made to achieve a new first down, of the 1,068 in which not punting would be the better option, 959 times were nevertheless punted.

swell

  1. ↑ a b You make the call: 4 kicks from Thursday to test your rules knowledge. Football Zebras, accessed on May 5, 2018 (English): "If the kicking team recovers any kick, the ball is dead immediately."
  2. ↑ Rule 9 Scrimmage Kick . In: OFFICIAL NFL PLAYING RULES . National Football League, 2011.
  3. ^ Football Canada (Ed.): Coaching Canadian Football . Human Kinetics, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4504-4261-9 , pp. 154 .
  4. ↑ Video: Calgary's crazy final rugby-style play almost led to overtime Saturday night. Yahoo, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b ITP Glossary: ​​Shield Punt Formation. Retrieved January 19, 2018 .
  6. ^ Punting Formations: A Guide To Safe Punting. Retrieved January 19, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Shield 'point formation is simple, provides coverage. Retrieved January 19, 2018 .
  8. ^ ITP Glossary: ​​Spread Punt Formation. Retrieved January 19, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Richard O'Brien: The Ultimate Sports Handbook: How to Steal Home, Slam Dunk, Score a Penalty Kick, and Play Like the Pros . Quirk Books, 2005, ISBN 978-1-59474-034-3 , pp. 52 .
  10. ↑ Rick Sang, Ray Guy : Football Kicking and Punting . Human Kinetics, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4504-0758-8 , pp. 138-140 .
  11. ^ Judy Battista: A Convergence of New and Old Punting Styles . In: The New York Times . October 11, 2009, p. SP7 .
  12. ↑ CFL's glorious rules allow Tiger-Cats to score with onside punt. Sporting News, accessed May 5, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Good Old Canada Has Gifted Us Another Onside Punt. Deadspin, accessed May 5, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Lions successfully execute ONSIDE PUNT vs. Packers. SB Nation, accessed May 5, 2018 .
  15. ^ Lions Go For Onside Punt Against Packers. Fansided, accessed May 5, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Quick Kick. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Game Play Finder. From 1994 to 2016, any team vs. any team, in the regular season, play type is punt, on 1st or 2nd or 3rd down. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .
  18. ^ Bouncing ... bouncing , Pro Football Hall of Fame
  19. ↑ STAT WATCH: Marshall punter's 92-yarder longest since 1972. USA Today, accessed on May 5, 2018 (English).
  20. ↑ a b Canadian Football League (Ed.): 2017 CFL Guide & Record Book . S. 207 .
  21. ↑ Canadian Football League (Ed.): 2017 CFL Guide & Record Book . S. 207 (Other sources give the Edmonton Eskimos as opponents , e.g. A LOOK BACK IN LIFE ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY . In: Penticton Herald. October 23, 2016, p. A7.).
  22. ^ David Romer: Do Firms Maximize? Evidence from Professional Football . In: Journal of Political Economy . February 2006, p. 340-365 , doi : 10.1086 / 501171 .

literature

American football. The official rules. Things worth knowing from A - Z, Falken-Verlag 2000, ISBN 3-8068-1673-5 .