Spotting the Ball and the Line to Gain
Where the ball is placed after every kind of play, how forward progress, the hash marks and the line to gain interact, and why a few inches at the spot can decide a drive.
A running back is stacked up at the line of scrimmage on third down. A pile forms, an official's whistle blows, and someone tosses the ball to a referee who walks it forward a step and sets it down. A few seconds later, the offense lines up for fourth down at a spot that looks, from the stands, like it was chosen by guesswork.
It was not guesswork, but it was a judgment. Every snap in football starts from a spot, and the process of choosing that spot is one of the most important and least discussed parts of officiating. A spot that is half a yard different changes the distance on the next down, which changes the play call, which changes the game.
This article explains how the ball is spotted: what the spot is, how it is chosen after different kinds of plays, how the hash marks and sidelines come into it, and how the spot connects to the line to gain.
What a spot actually is
A spot is the place on the field where the next play starts, and it is measured by the position of the ball. More precisely, it is the position of the ball's forward point when the play ended, with the ball placed sideways along the length of the field.
A football is about 11 inches long. At the start of each play the ball sits on the ground with its long axis pointing toward the goal lines. That length matters, because it defines the neutral zone: the strip of ground between the two tips of the ball. Each team's line of scrimmage is the plane running through the tip of the ball nearest its own goal line. Neither team may be beyond its own plane at the snap, which is how offside and encroachment are judged.
When officials spot the ball after a play, they place the ball so that the correct tip sits at the correct yard line or other mark. A dead-ball spot is therefore not a point under the runner's body; it is a point on the ball.
Forward progress
If a runner is moving ahead and a defender stops him, the ball is spotted where his forward progress ended. Forward progress is the idea that a runner should not be pushed backward by a pile after he has stopped moving ahead. The official's whistle marks the moment the runner is stopped, and the spot is where the ball was at that moment, not where the pile eventually drives it.
Some points about forward progress:
- It is a judgment. The official uses his or her eyes, not a measurement. That is why the spot gets so much attention in close plays.
- A runner can gain beyond his body. Because the ball's tip is the reference, a runner who extends the ball can gain a few extra inches. That is why you see runners stretch the ball toward the line when they are tackled near it.
- The whistle matters. In general, once the official judges the runner's forward progress has stopped, the ball is dead at that spot, even if the runner is still on his feet and is pushed backward by his teammates or opponents.
- Rules about being down vary. Whether a runner who slips and falls without being touched is down, and what counts as "in the grasp" of a tackler, differ somewhat from one level to another. The wording in the rulebook for your level is what governs.
If the ball carrier fumbles, the spot is different. The ball is spotted according to the fumble rules, which depend on where the loose ball was recovered or went out of bounds and on which team got it, and those rules are a topic of their own.
The spot after different kinds of plays
Different plays end in different ways, so the next spot is chosen by different rules. The following table summarizes the usual outcomes. Rules at your level may differ in details, so treat it as a guide.
| How the play ended | Where the ball is spotted next |
|---|---|
| Runner tackled in bounds | At the spot of forward progress |
| Runner goes out of bounds | At the yard line where the ball crossed the sideline |
| Incomplete pass | At the previous spot, with the down counted |
| Completed pass | Where the receiver was stopped, as with a runner |
| Fair catch | At the spot of the catch |
| Punt or kick downed or out of bounds | At the spot where the kick was dead, with special rules for touchbacks |
| Penalty accepted | At the spot determined by the enforcement rules |
| Touchback | At the yard line the rulebook gives for the level and the kind of kick |
| Safety | A free kick follows, with the ball placed by the rulebook |
A few notes on the table.
- Incomplete passes. The ball returns to the same spot, and the number of the down increases. If it was third down, it is now fourth, and the distance to the line to gain is unchanged. That is why a team that throws two straight incompletions faces the same distance for both.
- Out of bounds. The ball is spotted where the ball crossed the sideline, which can be different from where the runner stepped. The ball carrier's feet are not the reference; the ball's position is.
- Touchbacks. The yard line where the ball is placed after a touchback differs for kickoffs and punts and has changed from year to year and level to level. Check the current rulebook.
The hash marks
If the ball goes out of bounds near a sideline, or a tackle ends in a pile near the sideline, the next play cannot start with the ball only a few feet from the edge of the field. So football uses hash marks: two parallel rows of short lines running down the length of the field, each row inside the field by a set distance from the sideline.
When the ball is dead between a hash mark and the sideline, it is moved to the nearest hash mark at the same yard line before the next snap. That keeps the field wide enough on both sides for the offense to run plays. When the ball is dead between the hash marks, it stays where it is.
The distance between the hash marks differs by level, and it changes the game:
| Level | Distance between the hash marks |
|---|---|
| NFL | 18 feet, 6 inches |
| College (NCAA) | 40 feet |
| High school (NFHS) | 53 feet, 4 inches |
In the NFL the hash marks are close together, about the same width as the goalposts, so most plays begin near the middle of the field. In high school the hash marks are far apart, about a third of the field's width, so a team that is tackled on a hash starts the next play on a considerably wider side of the field than it would at the pro level. Coaches plan their formations and play calls around this, which is one reason a play that works in one league may need adjusting in another.
Those figures are widely published, but if you need them for a specific field, such as a youth field, confirm with your league, since youth fields may be marked differently.
The line to gain
The line to gain is the place on the field the offense has to reach to earn a new set of downs. It is measured from the spot where the series began, ten yards toward the defense's goal. The ball's forward tip counts again here: to earn a first down, the forward tip of the ball must reach the line.
There are a few common situations to understand.
- Normal downs. The offense starts a series at the 30-yard line. Its line to gain is the 40. If a runner stops with the ball at the 39, it is fourth-and-1 from the 39 on the next play, not a first down.
- Goal to go. If the line to gain would be beyond the goal line, the goal line itself is the line to gain. The team is in "goal to go" and needs only to score.
- After a penalty. A penalty moves the ball, but it does not move the line to gain unless the foul brings an automatic first down. Our article on penalty enforcement explains the common cases.
- After a change of possession. The new offense gets a fresh first down at the spot where it took over, with the line to gain ten yards ahead.
"Distance" in the announcement, as in "third and 6," tells you how many yards remain between the spot of the ball and the line to gain at that moment. For the fundamentals, see our guide to downs and distance.
A worked example, step by step
Here is a hypothetical drive to show how the spot and the line move together. Imagine a made-up team starts a series at its own 25-yard line, first and 10, so the line to gain is the 35.
- First down: a run is stopped at the 28. The spot is the 28, and the distance is now second and 7.
- Second down: a pass is incomplete. The ball goes back to the 28 and it is third and 7.
- Third down: a pass is completed, and the receiver is tackled at the 34. The spot is the 34, and the distance is fourth and 1.
- Fourth down: the offense lines up and runs a sneak. The runner is stopped, and the referee spots the ball. It is close to the 35, so the referee asks for the chains to be brought out.
- The measurement: the officials check whether the forward tip of the ball reaches the line, and the result is a first down or a turnover on downs.
In this sequence, the line to gain stayed at the 35 the whole time. Everything else, including the down and the distance, depended on the spot.
For how the chain crew keeps track of this and decides close calls, see our article on the chain gang and how the ball is measured.
Who decides and how it can be reviewed
The spot is chosen by an official on the field, usually the one nearest the end of the play, with the referee overseeing. The official who blows the whistle marks the spot. The other officials may help if the ball was hidden.
In levels that use instant replay, the rules about whether a spot can be reviewed vary. Some questions are reviewable, for example whether the ball broke the plane of the goal line, but ordinary forward-progress judgments generally are not. If you have heard a commentator say "the spot is not reviewable," that is the reason. The replay rules for each level are part of the rulebook, and they change from time to time.
Common mistakes and misconceptions
- "The runner's knee decides the spot." Not exactly. The spot is based on the position of the ball, not the position of the runner's body.
- "The ball goes back to the line of scrimmage after any incomplete pass." True, but only because the ball was not advanced. After a completed pass, it is spotted where the receiver was stopped.
- "The chain moves with the ball." The down marker moves along the sideline with the ball, but the stakes stay where the series began until there is a first down.
- "The hash marks are the same everywhere." They are not. The three levels use different widths, which changes how much of the field is open on the next play.
- "A spot is exact." It is the best estimate of the official, which is why the close ones are measured against the chain.
Why the spot matters for strategy
Coaches treat the spot as a resource. A few ideas follow from the rules.
- Reaching with the ball. Because the ball's tip is the reference, ball-carriers are coached to extend the ball toward the line when they are about to be tackled near it.
- Field position. An offense that starts at the hash on the left side of the field has more room to its right than to its left. Defenses and offenses set their formations accordingly.
- Short-yardage calls. Fourth-and-inches is different from fourth-and-1. A team that thinks it is close may call a quarterback sneak, because a spot only a few inches ahead could be enough.
- Penalty choices. Teams decide whether to accept a penalty by looking at where the spot will be afterward. A defensive penalty that moves the spot beyond the line to gain is usually accepted.
To see how the pieces fit in a real game, follow any game's drive summary on our scores page, and look at where each series begins. The schedule page lists upcoming games if you want to practice watching the spot live, and the Play section is a good place to try spotting the ball yourself in a pickup game.
The short version
- A spot is a place measured by the forward tip of the ball, and it sets where the next snap happens.
- After a tackle, the spot is where forward progress ended; after an incomplete pass, the ball returns to the previous spot.
- The ball dead near a sideline is moved to the nearest hash mark at the same yard line.
- Hash marks are 18 feet 6 inches apart in the NFL, 40 feet in college and 53 feet 4 inches in high school.
- The line to gain is ten yards from the start of the series and is shown by the front stake of the chain.
- The spot is a judgment; the measurement only compares that spot to the line.