10 yrd rule for indirect kicks

[old66man45]

just wondering what is the rule for a player asking for 10 yards or is it a given in high school?

[Steven Gerrard]

Defensive players are supposed to give 10 yards to the kicker, without anyone asking. If the kicker feels that they are closer then 10 yards, he can ask the referee to count off the 10 yards and move the defenders back. Most referees are not going to stop play to move the defenders back unless asked (the kicker may want a quick restart, so you do not want to take that option away from him/her).

[furriner]

with a caveat or two thrown in:

if the wall is not 10 yards back and the kicker deliberately kicks the ball at a player, the ball is live. the kicker was just dumb to give the ball the other team.

if a player in the same wall moves to intercept the ball within 10 yards, then he/she would be cautioned, shown the yellow card and would leave the field (in high school).

if a wall refuses to back up in a timely manner, and there is a captain in the wall, he/she could be cautioned for delaying restart. otherwise, pick the ugliest kid/ child of loudmouth in bleachers.

i personally love the plastic fields that are also marked for the occasional football game. makes it real easy and removes excuses from players not knowing how far 10 yards is

[viewfromthepitch]

Some of these answers have a general correctness but not complete.

When a free kick (indirect IFK or direct DFK) is awarded the only rights of the defending team is to not be distracted by the referee. (excepting a Penalty Kick which has it's own Law in the game with specific instructions, which will not be addressed in this post)

The attacking team can take a quick free kick, which has little to no intervention by the referee except to insure the spot of the kick is correct. Defenders still need to retreat 10 yards. However if while retreating, the kick is taken, and hits a defender, while retreating then the referee takes no acton. If a defender is closer than 10 yards, and intercepts the ball, by moving closer to the ball than 10 yards, then the defender is guilty of the cautionable offense, Failure to respect the distance. The referee may caution, or not depending on the situation in the game, and the kick must be retaken, however at this point the kick becomes a ceremonial restart.

The ceremonial free kick, can be forced by the referee (but a preference is that it is a quick free kick that requires no whistle) at any time and is normally requested by the attacking team, however other incidents may force it ceremonial (injury, caution or send off, substitution or any other reason the referee decides). This is when a whistle is required for the kick to take place and the referee backs up the wall to 10 yards.(Note the laws state at least 10 yards, in every direction) If the attacking team takes the kick before the whistle, then the attacking player is guilty of delaying the restart and may be cautioned, and the kick retaken.

Defending players who intervene by placing themselves closer than 10 yards to prevent a quick kick from happening are also guilty of delaying the restart and may be cautioned, although referees are asked to first intervene and prevent this from happening, give a warning and then caution for the offense.

Indirect kicks taken from closer than 10 yards to the goal have a special provision allowing the defending team to line up on the goal line, between the goalposts to defend the kick. The referee must use his/her judgement to determine if the attacking team would like to take a quick free kick or to force the kick ceremonial.

Referees are asked to intervene as little as possible and allow quick free kicks often so that the game flows with little intervention. Referees should rarely "count off" 10 as they should be able to know the distance required for free kicks, go to that spot and back up the defenders. Referees can also use their voice to have defenders retreat the 10 yards but should refrain from undue interference as not to prevent the quick free kick nor to unfairly distract the opponents. The captain plays no role in the game other than to preform duties at the coin toss and determine what players are excluded from Kicks from the Penalty Mark and should not be cautioned simply because the player was in the wall. Referees have discression in determining what player to caution for delaying the restart, if a caution is necessary.

I could go on, but I think this covers the original question, and refutes some of the other advice given, which while correct on principal, had some flaws in reasoning.

VFTP

[happyjack]

There are only 2 occasions defenders should be within 10 yards on a free kick...quick restart or IFK from the goal area line. Referees should be proactive in preventing defenders to encroach or fail to retreat the required distance. A referee can be telling defenders to back up and the kick be taken, there is no issue of "distraction" for this. Also, if the Kicker takes the free kick the defender within 10 yards must move into the path of the ball and intercept it to earn the caution. Anything else is fair game.

[happyjack]

I am still surprised how many defenders still think the attacker has to request the 10 yards. Then wants to tell the referee he is wrong when they explain they must retreat

[soccerfan111]

I saw a ref two nights ago had his assistant ref from the side of the field just eye ball it and the defenders said how can he count ten yards just by looking and the main ref said fine I'll walk it out for y'all but just warning you I can't count. He took 12 exaggerated steps and the players were roughly 16 yards away (based on the marking from the football field). I felt the ref was rather childish given the fact that he said he couldn't count loud enough for some of the fans to hear.

[dulac]

A good referee NEVER "steps off" 10 yards. We are trained to eye it.

[happyjack]

Jan 28, 2012 0:25:39 GMT -6 soccerfan111 said:

I saw a ref two nights ago had his assistant ref from the side of the field just eye ball it and the defenders said how can he count ten yards just by looking and the main ref said fine I'll walk it out for y'all but just warning you I can't count. He took 12 exaggerated steps and the players were roughly 16 yards away (based on the marking from the football field). I felt the ref was rather childish given the fact that he said he couldn't count loud enough for some of the fans to hear.

As opposed to the players a ting childish and not knowing what 10 yards is either? I've used that line and told players that if they don't know what 10 yards is, I'm going to move them to what I think 10 yards is, and they better not argue or I'll book them for dissent, as they've already said they didn't know the distance so how could they argue it. Strangely, they quickly learn the distance before I have to show them.

It is always fun when a player from one of the expensive private s hoops sYs they don't know 10 yards. I look at them and ask if their parents know they are spending upwards of 5 grand a year for their kid not to know 30 feet. Usually only need to do that once as well.

Both are more effective than cautions, and usually ends the gamesmanship pretty quickly

[laffysoccermom]

Happyjack- you are a hoot!

[happyjack]

If I can get out of a game without having to give a caution for something dumb like this, it was a good game.