A snap (colloquially called a "hike", "snapback", or "pass from center") starts each American football and Canadian football play from scrimmage. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with In accordance with the Manual of Style (see) Canadian English is used throughout this article (see Canadian_English#Spelling) A play from scrimmage is the activity of the games of Canadian football and American football during which one team tries to advance the ball or to score and the

Action

Handed snap

The ball begins on the ground with its long axis parallel to the sidelines of the field, its ends marking each team's line of scrimmage in American football; in Canadian football line of scrimmage of the team without the ball is 1 yard their side of the ball. In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension beyond The snap must be a quick and continuous movement of the ball by one or both hands of the snapper, and the ball must leave the snapper's hands. The various rules codes have additional requirements, all of which have the effect of requiring the ball to go backwards to a player behind the line of scrimmage (i. e. in the "backfield"). The ball may be handed, thrown, or even rolled, and its trajectory and the ball during that passage are called "the snap". The snapper is almost always the center. Center ( C) is a position in American football and Canadian football ( spelled centre in Canadian English) The ball is almost always sent between the snapper's legs, but only in Canadian football is that required. Additional rules apply regarding the positioning and stance of the snapper as one of several "line" players in anticipation of the snap.

In theory, in most American football codes it is legal and possible for the snapper to roll or slide a snap backward along the ground and, with the ball now in play as a fumble (and a backward one at that), step back, pick the ball up and play it as if he were the quarterback. Fumblespng|300px|right|thumb|The rate of fumbles by running backs in the NFL has decreased steadily since the AFL-NFL merger. Quarterback ( QB) is a position in American and Canadian football. This has a hidden advantage in that it allows the actual quarterback, who would normally pass the ball, to act as an additional eligible receiver. In American football and Canadian football, not all players on offense are entitled to receive a forward pass However, in practice, this is almost never done.

Exchange of the snap between the center's legs.

For a handed snap, the snapper will usually have his or her head up, facing opponents. For a thrown snap, especially in formations wherein the ball may be snapped to players in different positions, the snapper will commonly bend over looking between his or her legs. Bend over may refer to the action of Bending one's body Over, as in to Pick up something or for example as the hydra does in order to move Because of the vulnerability of a player in such a position, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations ("Fed") have adopted rules providing that if a player is positioned at least 7 yards behind the neutral zone to receive a snap, opponents are not to deliberately contact the snapper until one second after the snap (NCAA), or until the snapper has a chance to react (Fed). However, in professional football it is common for a center to be able to practice a single "shotgun" formation thrown snap enough to keep his head up and toss it blindly. The shotgun formation is a formation used by the Offensive team in American and Canadian football.

Snap count

The team entitled to snap the ball will usually know in advance the moment when the snap is to occur as one of their players calls out signals, which usually include a loud sound such as "hut" voiced one or more times, the number of which they know; they are thus said to know the "snap count". (A team of deaf players may get the snap timing via the beating of a bass drum near the field. ) Therefore they have a considerable advantage over their opponents. The snapper is not, however, allowed to make motions simulating part of the snap action; therefore their opponents can be confident the first motion of the ball or the snapper's hands is the beginning of the snap.

The snap count is decided on in the huddle, usually expressed as ". In Sport, a huddle is when a team gathers together usually in a tight circle to strategise motivate and/or celebrate . . on <number>. " being the final words spoken by the quarterback after calling the play but before the huddle breaks and the players go to the line of scrimmage. In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension beyond The snap count allows offensive players to have a small head start. The opposing linebacker wants to predict the snap, and build up speed such that he crosses the line of scrimmage exactly as the play begins, so as to increase his chances of getting a tackle for a loss, or a sack. This article relates to Sports. For the Vietnam War bombing raids see Operation Linebacker and Operation Linebacker II. In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension beyond By varying the snap count, a quarterback forces the defensive players to react to the movement of the offensive players, or risk being called for an offsides or encroachment penalty. Unfortunately for the offense, this advantage can sometimes become a disadvantage. When faced by an exceptionally loud stadium, players may be unable to hear the snap count, and are forced to concentrate more on visual cues (silent snap count), or risk false start penalties. In sports a false start is a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start

The offense must also be mindful of the play clock. A play clock (also called a delay-of-game timer is a timer designed to increase the pace (and subsequently the score in American football and Canadian football, If they fail to snap the ball in time they incur a delay of game penalty.

History and rationale

The snap, the set scrummage and ruck in today's Rugby Union, and the play-the-ball in Rugby League have common origins in rugby football. Scrum (an abbreviated form of scrummage, which is now rarely used in the sports of Rugby union and Rugby league, is a way of restarting the game either Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short Rugby league players all need to be particularly physically fit and tough because of the game's fast pace and the expansive size of the playing-field as well as the inherently History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Rugby football (usually just " rugby " may refer to a number of sports through history descended from a common form of Football developed at Rugby School As the rules of rugby's scrimmage were written when the game came to North America, they had a significant flaw which was corrected by custom elsewhere, but by the invention of the snap in American football. See "Why the Uncontested Scrimmage".

The rule adopted by a committee for American football in 1880 first provided for the uncontested right of one side to play the ball by foot (in any direction) for a scrimmage. A certain use of the foot on the ball which had the same effect as heeling it back was known as a "snap". Later in the 19th Century the option of snapping the ball back by hand was added. The option to play the ball with the foot was preserved, however, for several decades, although by early in the 20th Century it was restricted to kicking the ball forward. The kick forward in scrimmage was a surprise play which did not work against a prepared defense. Also for several decades alternatives to the scrimmage for playing the ball from across the sideline after it had gone out of bounds -- a throw-in or "fair", and "bounding in" -- existed. Note also that until well into the 20th Century, rather than an official readying the ball for scrimmage, the side entitled to the snap had complete custody of the ball and could snap it from the required spot at any time; for instance, a tackled ball carrier might feign injury, then suddenly snap the ball while recumbent, there being no stance requirement yet. The neutral zone and the right of the snapper not to be contacted by an opponent before the snap also was not an original feature. As the 20th Century drew to a close, the NCAA and National Federation of State High School Associations extended that protection to some time after the snap, in cases where a player is positioned at least 7 yards deep to receive a thrown snap.

Canadian football used the rugby scrimmage unaltered until near the end of the 19th Century, when, regionally at first, under the influence of the American scrimmage, the number of players in the scrimmage was limited to three -- a "centre scrimmager" bound on either side by props called "side scrimmagers". The centre scrimmager was later renamed the "snap", and in intercollegiate play one side was given the right to put foot to ball first. Beginning regionally again and universally by 1923, the 3-man scrimmage was reduced to the centre alone, the number of players on the field being reduced commensurately from 14 to 12, and a snap rule and neutral zone similar to that of American football was adopted. In addition to the between-the-legs requirement noted above, for several years after the adoption of the hand snap, a hand-to-hand snap was illegal, the ball required to be thrown instead, in Canadian football. Apparently a complete break was desired from system of backheeling, and the T formation having gone into eclipse in American football at the time, the Canadian snap was modeled on the formations then in common use in the USA, such as the single wing.

The game design rationale for requiring the snap to be a quick and continuous motion to the backfield is to eliminate the need for rules provisions for a live ball in scrimmage. In Rugby Union the ball may be retained by the forwards and played for a time via the foot in a scrummage (which Rugby League has as well) or ruck, or by the hands in a maul, necessitating additional restrictions on play and player positioning during those intervals. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short In American and Canadian football, the ball as it is put in play is only held in the line (by the snapper) for a fraction of a second. The uncontested possession also, as Walter Camp pointed out, allows for better offensive and defensive planning by the side entitled to snap the ball and their opposition, respectively. Walter Chauncey Camp ( April 7, 1859 &ndash March 14, 1925) was a sports writer and American football coach known as the "Father A muffed snap can be recovered by either team.

See also

• Glossary of American football

References