New AUSTUS Football Glossary:
- Advantage paid: umpiring decision in which play continues after an infringement if the team with the ball is infringed upon; rather than stop play to award the free kick, the umpire allows play to continue so as not to disadvantage the attacking team.
- Air Yards: The yards gained by a pass through the air. It is the distance gained by a pass forward of the line of scrimmage to the spot of the reception. Alternatively, it is the total passing yards minus the yards run after catch (YAC).
- Backfield: A team's defending half of the field.
- Backup: A second string player who does not start the game, but comes in later in relief of a starter.
- Backward Pass: A pass thrown backward.There is no limit to the number of backward passes or where they may be thrown from. Sometimes referred to as a "lateral," which specifically refers to a pass thrown with no motion toward either end zone.
- Ball (shouted): when a player is caught with the ball by an opposing player or the ball is locked up on the ground by a pack of players, fans will shout "Ball" as an encouragement to the referees.
- Ball-carrier: The player currently in possession of the football. If the ball is "loose", meaning neither team has possession, there is no ball carrier.
- Ball Control: A strategy that is based on low-risk plays in an effort to avoid losing possession of the ball; examples of when a ball-control strategy would be used include when a team is in the red zone and when a team is protecting a lead late in a game.
- Ball Magnet: player who accumulates a large number of possessions of the ball is said to be a ball magnet
- Ball on a string: same as ball magnet, a player might be referred to as having the ball on a string or even said to have "brought his own ball to the game".
- Ball-up: restart of play after either 1) a team has scored or 2) the ball has been whistled "dead" by the referee.
- Behind: One point is awarded when either 1) the ball hits a goal post, or 2) if any player sends the ball between the goal posts by touching it with any part of the body before passing between the goal posts.
- Blinder: An excellent performance.
- Boil Over: An unexpected upset in which a team not expected to win by any stretch of the imagination pulls off a victory.
- Bust: A player, usually one drafted in the first day of the NFL Draft, who failed to meet the expectations of the drafting team.)
- Chip Shot: A very short field goal, usually of 25 yards or less, that is almost certain to be successful.
- Clanger: An extremely bad mistake during play, such as kicking the ball to an opposition player.
- Coathanger: An illegal around the neck tackle. Also refers to the Sydney bridge
- Complete Package: Refers to a player who can do just about everything: goals, run well, catch the ball, tackle, etc. from just about anywhere on the ground. Often will be used to describe a new recruit.
- Cut: A sharp change of direction by a running player.
- Dead Ball: A ball which is no longer in play
- Disposal: When a player in possession of the ball rids himself of the ball by hand or foot. An effective disposal finds a teammate. An ineffective disposal misses its intended target or ends up with an opposition player.
- End Zone: The area between the end line (or deadline in Canadian amateur football) and the goal line, bounded by the sidelines.
- Field Goal: Six points are awarded when a kick or throw into the goalpost; All throws must be made outside of the end zone.
- Find The Sticks: A player skilled at kicking goals is said to know how to find the sticks. Usually refers to a player other than the forwards.
- Flag: A weighted yellow cloth thrown by a field official to indicate that a foul has been committed. Also the weighted red flag that an NFL head coach throws onto the field to alert officials that they are challenging a call on the field.
- Forward Pass: A pass that touches a person, object, or the ground closer to the opponent's end line than where it was released from, or is accidentally lost during a forward throwing motion.
- Forward Progress: The location to which a ball carrier's forward momentum carries him before they are tackled. At the end of a play, the football is spotted at the point where the ball carrier's forward progress is stopped, even if they are pushed backward by the defenders.
- Four-and-Out (a.k.a. turnover on tackles): When an offensive team gives up four consecutive tackles, and thus is forced to turnover possession of the ball to the opposition.
- Free Kick: A kick awarded to a player after a mark or for minor infractions.
- Fumble: A ball that a player accidentally lost possession of.
- Gunslinger: A player who plays in an aggressive and decisive manner by throwing deep, risky passes. These players usually possess the strong arm needed to throw deep effectively.
- Hail Mary: A long pass play, thrown towards a group of receivers near or in the end zone in hope of a score. Used by a team as a last resort as time is running out in either of two halves (usually by a team trailing in the second half).
- Handoff: A move in which a player transfers the ball to another player, and the receiving player takes possession of the ball before it leaves the hands of the giver (thus the ball is never in flight). A handoff can occur in any direction.
- Handpass or handball: Fisting the ball to another player (the ball must be fisted, but it can be thrown). The technique is similar to an underhanded volleyball serve.
- Hit the woodwork: A kick for goal which hits one of the posts.
- Interception: The legal catching of a forward pass thrown by an opposing player.
- Interchange: (the bench), the substitution (or rotation) of players during a game. Players entering or leaving the field of play must do so at a designated interchange area which is monitored by stewards. Besides the "starting 11" players for any given match, the coaching staff will also nominate four interchange players who can be rotated at any time, as well as one substitute who can come on to replace one of the starting players.
- Juke: To evade a tackler by deceptive moves, and thus without need of a stiff arm.
- Kick A Bag: Refers to a player (usually a forward) who kicks a large number of goals in a game, e.g. Jack Riewoldt kicked a bag with 10 goals.
- Knock-on: Hitting the ball without actually having possession, can be done with the ball in the air or on the ground.
- Leg Whip: An illegal block or tackle using the legs to trip the opponent
- Live Ball: Any ball that is in play, whether it is in a player's possession or not. The ball is live during plays from scrimmage and free kicks,
- Loose Ball: Any ball that is in play and not in a player's possession. This includes a ball in flight during a backward or forward pass.
- Man-to-Man Defense: A defense in which players are in charge of guarding a certain player, instead of a certain part of the backfield.
- Mark: A clean catch of the ball from a kick which travels approximately 10 yards or more. A player awarded the mark has the option of taking a "free" kick without interference from the opposition or to immediately play on. Choosing the latter allows opposition players to attempt to catch and tackle him.
- On The Pine: Sitting on the bench during a game.
- Open: When an intended receiver, usually through effort, is separated from any defenders. This means defenders have a very low chance of preventing a reception.
- Pepper The Goals: When a team has numerous scoring chances, usually said when all those scoring shots result in more misses than field goals.
- Place Kick: Kicking the ball from where it has been placed stationary on the ground or, where legal, on a tee.Usually as part of a penalty goal.
- Play-on: The umpire will call play-on to indicate no mark is awarded or advantage is paid.
- Possession: Physical control of the ball after a pass or fumble
- Pump Fake: When a player fakes either a kick or throw and keeps the ball in their hand in an attempt to fool the defensive team.
- Punt: A kick in which the ball is dropped and kicked before it reaches the ground.
- Quick Kick: An unexpected punt
- Rainmaker: A high soaring kick or throw of the ball.
- Reception: When a player catches (receives) the ball from either a kick or throw.
- Red Flag: A weighted red marker thrown onto the field by a coach to tell the officials that they want a certain play reviewed; sometimes referred to as a "challenge flag".
- Red Zone: The area between the 20-yard line and the goal-line of the defensive team. The area is not literally colored red and the term is used mainly for statistical purposes; a team that has a high "red zone percentage" (number of field goals and/or behinds scored from within the red zone divided by number of times in which the ball enters the red zone) is capable of finishing drives with field goals on a regular basis.
- Referee: The officials who directs play on the field.There are six referees.
- Return: The act of progressing the ball down the field after a change of possession, such as a kick or interception
- Return Yards: Yards gained advancing the ball during play after a change of possession such as a punt or a kickoff or a turnover such as a fumble or an interception
- Running Up the Score: A generally discouraged practice in which a team, despite leading by several field goals (to the point that it is obvious that the team is going to win), continues to score as many points as possible in an effort to create as wide of a margin of victory as possible.
- Safety: Three points are awarded in the following circumstances; 1) A forward touches the ball to the ground in the end-zone, 2) if a back is tackled by a forward (if the defense has recovered possession of the ball) in the end-zone, or 3) a forward is tackled by a defender in the end-zone before they can score a field goal.
- Scramble: When a player runs from the pocket in an attempt to avoid being sacked, giving the receivers more time to get open or attempting to gain positive yards by running himself.
- Shepherd: Blocking opponents from getting the ball or tackling a teammate who has the ball, also sometimes done by players near the goal line when a teammate kicks a long goal, to prevent an opposition defender from trying to get close enough to touch the ball to force a point.
- Slot: To kick a goal; can also refer to a new player who joined the club via draft or trade and is fitting in well with his new team.
- Sledge: To trash talk, insult, goad or jibe an opposition player as an attempt to distract him from playing well.
- Soccer Match: A game in either 1) which the only scoring is achieved by kicking field goals (i.e., no safeties or behinds are scored) or 2) a low scoring game. Usually a sign of a defensive struggle and/or consistent offensive ineptitude on the part of both teams.
- Speccie (also spekkie): When a player leaps high in the air to catch the ball i.e. a spectacular mark. Also known as a screamer.
- Spoil: To foil a player attempting to take a mark, e.g. Jeremy Cameron set himself to take the mark, but Daniel Talia punched the ball away to spoil him.
- Stiff-arm or Straight-arm: A ball carrier warding off a would-be tackler by pushing them away with a straight arm.
- Strip: To remove a football from the player carrying it.
- Tackle: The act of forcing a ball carrier to the ground
- Time of Possession (TOP): The amount of time one team has the ball in its possession relative to the other team. Since there are 60 minutes in a non-overtime game, and one team or another always has possession of the ball, the two teams divide up the time with which they have the ball out of the 60 minutes. If one team has it 40 minutes the other will have it 20 and so forth. A time of possession advantage is seen as a positive thing and is highly correlative with a win or loss as it usually means the opponent's defense becomes fatigued and easier to gain yardage on late in games. Teams that dominate time of possession usually have good defenses (that can keep the opposing team's offense from mounting many long drives) and solid offenses (usually with good running games as running plays keep the clock running more often than passing plays). Teams that have a big disadvantage in the time of possession usually give up several third down conversions and/or frequently go three-and-out on offense.
- Utility Player: A player capable of playing multiple positions
- Whinge: To complain.
- Yardage: The amount of yards gained or lost during a play, game, season, or career.
- Yards After Catch (YAC): The amount of yardage gained after initial catch. A quarterback's length of pass is the distance from where the line of scrimmage is, to where the receiver caught the ball. YAC is the distance the ball carrier ran after the initial catch. Screen pass plays boosts YAC effectively due to the short passes, and the receiver has to run to increase yardage.
- Zone Defense: A defense in which players are in charge of protecting a certain part of the backfield, instead of individual players. Pure zone packages are seldom used; most defenses employ some combination of zone and man coverage.