Question about the Faceoff Rule

[laxfan25]

At the clinic they also mentioned that the coaches were concerned that the faceoff had become a continuous process of guys coming down and then rolling right into the faceoff on the quick,consistent whistle that we were advised to use last year - no varying the cadence at all.
Now they suggest that we vary it slightly, which is fine. But if the concern is that players are not stopping at all on their way into the faceoff, perhaps there should be a moment where they are required to come to a complete stop. I dunno, maybe we could do something like say "Down!" and then "Set!", where they have to be motionless? Nah, too radical a concept.

Am I incorrect in assuming the "Down" command does imply they go down an into a motionless state? The rule would then address that "never stopping" as they go down.

No, you're not incorrect. It's just that in practice, with the desire for a quick whistle, as soon as the players were close to the ball we were blowing the whistle.

[Zeuslax]

I was hoping that one of the refs on here could assist me by placing this scenario into some sort of clear and concise manner from a ref's perspective. Essentially I’m looking for some sort of eloquence on the procedure and steps that you would take.

Face off scenario 1: A1 jumps on the whistle. A1 was attempting to win it forward. As a result, the ball goes flying deep into his offensive end, towards the opposing goalie. Please explain what is happening on the field (optimally and best case scenario with the refs, FOGO's and wings) and the process to get the ball started for team B. Also, some additional Pros and Cons that we haven’t discussed if you're feeling frisky.

Virtually the same scenario can be applied, but the ball proceeds to fly into the offending FOGO's defensive end of the field. I know we've alluded to the retrieving of the ball and some of the nuisances of the restart already. However, the conversation stopped short (pun intended) with the ball in close proximity to the square.

[laxfan25]

The best I can really do is what I posted in another thread -

Faceoff rules: On any pre-whistle faceoff violations (including wing players or attack or D-men being over the line as the whistle is blown - that is considered pre-whistle) the offending team's face-off middie has to be substituted for, while the ref will give a prompt restart to the offended team.
* If the ball rolls away from the faceoff area it is the player's responsibility to chase down the ball - not the ref's. If it rolls toward the defensive end the ref will wait for the player to get to the midline before blowing the whistle, but they don't need to come to a complete stop - so you can get a rolling start. If it is pushed towards the attack end you'll need to come back towards the midline before the restart - no 5-10 yard headstart.
* If the ball does roll away it will be the ref's judgement as to whether it was part of the play or if the player intentionally did it to delay the game. If they feel it is intentional it would be a 30 sec. delay of game penalty.

So if A1 jumps the whistle, it is up to the ref to determine if he was making a play for the ball when he pushed it forward, or if he did it to delay the game when he realizes he is gonna get called for the jump. IMHO, it has to be a pretty blatant intentional delay to draw a flag. It is up to the offended team to chase it down, and in reality they may not get that much of a break if it heads deep in their defensive end.
If it's pushed ahead you've gotta come back within five yeards or so of the midline before I'm going to blow the whistle.
The fairest thing, of course, would be to hold the offending FOGO at the X until the ball is ready for play - that way there would be consistency in every faceoff violation setup. That is what the officials consulting to the rules committee recommended, but the coaches went with what we have in place now.

[LaxRef]

OTOH, there's nothing to stop one of the wing middies from chasing down the ball and tossing it to the face-off man at midfield to help get the play restarted quickly. That's a lot faster than the face-off man chasing down the ball and then get back to midfield.

[laxfan25]

OTOH, there's nothing to stop one of the wing middies from chasing down the ball and tossing it to the face-off man at midfield to help get the play restarted quickly. That's a lot faster than the face-off man chasing down the ball and then get back to midfield.

That works too!

[GeorgiaLacrosse]

So far I've noticed problem with the new face off rule.

Refs are awarding "fast breaks" off the faceoff only when an opposing player jumps the whistle. Many refs seem to be ignoring the fact that players are lining up illegally... its as if they are reluctant to give a team a "fast break"... Players can tilt their heads extremely close to the ball without the refs calling anything. It seems that the refs are allowing players to get away with a lot more, and by the end of the game each FOS is just seeing who can cheat the most before something is called.

has anyone else noticed this?

[shrekjr]

So far in my games, ALL pre-faceoff violations have been stopped and "fast breaks" awarded.

[LaxRef]

So far I've noticed problem with the new face off rule.

Refs are awarding "fast breaks" off the faceoff only when an opposing player jumps the whistle. Many refs seem to be ignoring the fact that players are lining up illegally... its as if they are reluctant to give a team a "fast break"... Players can tilt their heads extremely close to the ball without the refs calling anything. It seems that the refs are allowing players to get away with a lot more, and by the end of the game each FOS is just seeing who can cheat the most before something is called.

has anyone else noticed this?

I predicted this would happen when they came out with the rule.