Question Number: 14828

Mechanics 2/11/2007

RE: Select Under 16

Dave Eberle of C, WA USA asks...

10 yards for Ceremonial Free Kicks

I have seen that referees in the English Premier League will often pace out 10 yards for ceremonial free kicks.

Is that the best technique for youth select soccer?

Thank you in advance for sharing your soccer wisdom.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Dave,
I believe that different thoughts as to the proper mechanics can be found from one national association to another.

I personaly know of at least five ways to determining where the ten yards is!

We can Eyeball the determined distance through our experiance and point to the spot where we expect them to be or be at that spot waiting for them to be there with you.
My ten yards could be a great deal longer than yours, so we can Exaggerate that distance to reinforce a point that 10 yards is the MINIMUM distance not the maximum!
We can reference by using the boundrylines on the field to help us!
We can pace ten yards off by walking backwards adding a verbal 9 and 10 as we finish even if we take 13 or 14 back steps as well as counting then out striding forward to make it as plain as the nose on your face .

My main point if if you INTERVENE at the taking of a free kick once you determined no quickly taken restart is desired or are cautioning or sending off so you will not permit one. YOU ENSURE the ceremonial restart goes by the WHISTLE and transmit that information VERY VERY clearly to ALL players!
WAIT for the whistle!
If you actively participate I hope you have ARs because as you pace or turn your back the ball location could be toyed with as players seek to gain a bit extra. Ensure your ARs communicate excessive misconduct or gamesmenship and do not neglect the interaction of players away from the wall, within the wall, as well as at the site of the foul with the ball as you go about pacing off the yardage!

Despite the misgivings of my colleagues in a ceremonial fixture it is not always wrong to pace it off as many national associations have players who actually expect it to be done.
We can question the need to do it but the character and attitude of the referee and his stature and respect within the players esteem are not diminished if the actions are done by one who is at ease with himself. If the actions are contrived or hesitant as a weakness players may exploit that is something that referee must be brought to task on!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Dave. Personally, I NEVER pace out the 10 yards. If I have to force the defenders to behave as they're required to do, I always move them back a little farther than what they and I believe to be 10 yards. This usually keeps them from misbehaving on subsequent free kicks. If they so not behave, I'll move them back farther. 10 yards is where the referee says it is

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There are so many visual cues on the field that referees seldom have to pace off 10 yards, unless for some reason they want to do it. The center circle is 10 yards radius. The distance from the goal area line to the penalty area line is 12 yards, so 10 is just a bit shorter than that. Some fields have a mark (called the "optional mark") along the goal line that is 10 yards from the corner arc.

With all those helps, refs can easily train themselves to know when a team is less than 10 yards from the ball. If they don't like "your" 10 yards, saying it's too far, then you can suggest that next time they immediately retreat to "their" 10 yards and you won't have to intervene.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Practice is the key here Dave. Take a football and a section of rope into your back yard and practice finding the end of the rope without looking. When you stop at the end or a yard or so past stop for the day. Repeat as necessary to produce a little muscle memory and they do that in a match. Works for me.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Get to know 10 yards in advance. I do not like to see steps taken anymore. Referees should be well aware of how far 10 yards is and be able to quickly move defenders back 10 yds from ball w/o wasting precious seconds in a match pacing it off.

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