Touch football is a version of
American footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
usually played by amateurs on a recreational basis in which the players "tackle" the individual carrying the ball only by touching him with one or two hands, based on whether one is playing the one-hand touch or two-hand touch variety, as opposed to tackling him bodily to the ground or forcing a knee to touch the ground, as is normal in traditional rules versions of the game. The two-hand touch variation is the most popular. The variant was originally developed by the U.S. Navy in the 1940s.
Rules
Depending on the skill of the players, the available playing field, and the purpose of the game, the rules other than the tackling aspect may remain mostly the same or vary considerably from traditional American football. Touch football can be played by teams as few as two or as many as eleven on each side; usually, games consist of teams of four to seven.
Positions in touch football are far less formal than its more organized counterpart. While some games roughly follow conventions, more often, all players will be considered
eligible receiverIn American football and Canadian football, not all players on offense are entitled to receive a forward pass. Only an eligible pass receiver may legally catch a forward pass, and only an eligible receiver may advance beyond the neutral zone if a forward pass which crosses the neutral zone is thrown...
s (as in
six-man footballSix-man football is a variant of high school American football that is played with six players per team, instead of 11.-History:Six-man football was developed in 1934 by Chester High School coach Stephen Epler as an alternative means for small high schools to field a football team during the Great...
), and there are usually no
running backA running back is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield...
s. There may or may not be a
snapperCenter is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
; if there is not, the quarterback initiates play by hovering the ball above the line of scrimmage and pulling it backward to simulate a snap.
Generally, in touch football, nearly every play is a passing play, whereas run plays and pass plays tend to be well balanced in organized football. Some games will also implement a "blitz count", or a period of time that must elapse after the snap before the defense may cross the
line of scrimmageIn American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension, beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun...
in order to attempt to tackle the
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
. The count thus gives the quarterback time to complete a
passIn several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction of the opponent's end line.-American and Canadian Football:...
in the absence of effective blocking (when teams are small, there is often no blocking at all). Other games will not use a count and thus blocking becomes important. Conversely, in the presence of a "blitz count" there is also often a "QB sneak" rule, which prevents the quarterback from taking unfair advantage of the blitz count by preventing the quarterback from crossing the line of scrimmage before the blitz count is finished.
Because of these rules, passing plays are far more common than running plays in touch football.
Along with the size of the teams, the size of the field can vary considerably. In a park, or spring practice situation, a full-sized field may be available, but many games are played in the front and back yards of suburban and rural village neighborhoods, where the whole field may not be much more than ten to thirty yards long. In most of these situations, there are no yard lines, requiring some change in the definition of a first down. Instead of requiring that a team advance the ball ten yards, sometimes two pass completions result in a first down. Another option is to eliminate first downs entirely, so that a team gets four (sometimes five) chances to score.
When it is desired for an odd number of players to play, it is common to allow one player to be an "all-time Quarterback" player; this player will always be on the
offenseIn sports, offense or offence , also known as attack, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals...
or the kicking team, switching sides throughout the game. When this occurs, there is usually no blitz count and the all-time quarterback is usually never allowed to cross the line of scrimmage.
Another common variation is the elimination of the
field goalA field goal in U.S. football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play .A field goal may be scored by a placekick or the now very rare drop kick...
and
extra pointExtra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
kick; this is usually due to the absence of goal posts and tees on the field as well as due to poor kicking skill by the participants. Some games eliminate kicking altogether, directing the teams to start each possession after a
touchdownA touchdown is the term for scoring American and Canadian football.-Description:To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. This can be done by rushing, in which the ball carrier carries the football forward into the end zone. It can also be done by passing,...
at the twenty-yard line, as if a
kickoffA kickoff is a method of starting a drive in American football or Canadian football.- Award :A kickoff occurs at the start of each half and before each overtime . It is also traditionally decided by a coin toss at the beginning of each game carried out by the referee. The visiting team captain...
and
touchbackIn American football, a touchback is a ruling which is made and signaled by the referee when the ball crosses into or through the end zone not in control of the team which put it into play. A touchback is not a play, but a result of events that may occur during a play...
had just occurred; other players prefer to change the kickoff into a "throw-off" or a "
puntA punt in some codes of football, especially American football, rugby league and rugby union, is performed when the ball is kicked without letting it hit the ground first — in contrast to a drop kick...
-off."
Scoring and game timing are much different in touch football than its more organized counterpart. For the sake of simplicity,
touchdownA touchdown is the term for scoring American and Canadian football.-Description:To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. This can be done by rushing, in which the ball carrier carries the football forward into the end zone. It can also be done by passing,...
s are usually worth 1 point and no other scoring is counted (there are no
extra pointExtra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
attempts). In a much lesser used variation, a touchdown is worth 6 points and if the player who scored the touchdown can progress in the other direction from the end zone in which he had just scored back to the opposite end zone without being touched, it counts as a
two-point conversionIn American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
. The former scoring method does not allow for other scoring types such as
safetiesA safety or safety touch is a type of score in American football and Canadian football and is worth two points . In American football, it is the only means by which a team not in possession of the football can score points...
. There is usually no
game clockA game clock consists of two adjacent clocks and buttons to stop one clock while starting the other, such that the two component clocks never run simultaneously. Game clocks are used in two-player games where the players move in turn...
and the game ends when one opponent has reached 10 touchdowns (in the former convention) or 100 points (in a standard convention).
- Touch football is generally played by amateurs, often teenagers or children.
- In Mexico the "touch football" is also known with the nickname of "tochito", nickname from the name of the game.
- During Thanksgiving, many Americans are known to play in "Turkey Bowls," games of touch or tackle football (without football pads) between family and friends.
- During offseason spring workouts, many high school and college teams play touch football to work on passing formations and plays.
In-Depth explanation of variable rules
First touch- This rule controls the action of the offensive team's current quarterback, and requires that the blocking/countdown rule not be in use. When teams are even, a "shift" (hand-off) between two offensive players begins the play. It takes a touch from a defender assigned to the quarterback (the "first touch",) to stop his initial forward progress and determine where the ball will be thrown from. The assigned defender is stuck to the quarterback, unable to act as a pass defender or hinder the quarterback in his search of a receiver.
Depending on the group, first touch can refer to the quarterback's ability to run or walk after the shift. For example, one group may refer to first taught as the ability for the quarterback to run after the shift, get touched, and still throw the ball. Another group may use the rule to mean that the quarterback has the ability to walk or powerwalk forward, get touched, and throw. The first variation favors a game with many players, while the second may be best for games where there aren't many players.
Another addition to this rule is the "two-man touch," which penalizes the defense for being unaware of their assignments and teammates by making all players who touch the active quarterback stick to him, removing a defender from the field temporarily.
This rule is commonly and informally referred to "first taught," the result of players creating another past tense verb for "touch."
Kickoff- Change of possession after scoring is often accompanied by rules determining where the ball is thrown from as opposed to actually kicking since throwing offers more control to players who may be playing in street-accessible areas and don't wish to chase a ball through traffic. When the kickoff style is open to variance after each score, the desired rules are called out and whichever is heard first, is the accepted rule. When the rules are agreed on before the start of a game and are made to be steady throughout, they are referred to as Auto-. The most accepted Auto- rules are Half Court, In Hands-- this offers a rule that gives advantages to both the kicking and receiving teams.
- No/Half Court- In Half Court, the ball is kicked off at the halfway mark in the field. In No Half Court, the ball is expected to be thrown from the kicking team's goal line. Half Court is practical when playing on a long field, but it puts the kicking team closer and potentially limits the maneuverability of the receiving team. Half Court is preferred by kicking teams as it dramatically shortens the amount of space and time between the teams.
- No/In Hands- In Hands means that the ball will be thrown to any specific person, usually at the kicker's discretion. No In Hands means that the ball will be thrown in the general area of the team, but without a target. In Hands saves the receiving team the trouble of chasing a bobbling ball, and is preferred.
First Down- Rules on first downs vary depending on the playing group and field size. In shorter fields, it may be impractical or unnecessary to create landmarks which would reset the downs, as four downs should be all the time needed to go from one end to the other. However, longer fields may need a halfway marker which, when reached, would reset the downs. Multiple markers can be used in this way depending on the field length. As stated above in the article, a number of completed passes may also result in a first down, if the teams desire it so. It is uncommon to see both length-based and pass-based rules in use simultaneously.
# Hand Touch- As the name suggests, this rule determines the number of hands that must land on an offensive player simultaneously to stop the play/first touch situation. One-hand touch is often used with younger players, as two-hand touch demands greater dexterity. When used against more mature players, one-hand touch puts more pressure on the offense to juke and misdirect the defense.
See also
- Flag football
Flag football is a version of American football that is popular worldwide. The basic rules of the game are similar to those of the mainstream game , but instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier to end a down...
- Street football (American)
Street football, also known as backyard football, is a simplified variant of American football primarily played informally by youth. It features far less equipment and fewer rules than its counterparts, but unlike the similar touch football, features full tackling.-Main game:An organized version...