“It’s A Simple Matter Of Physics!”
[I]t appears that people are puzzling on how a person who is running forward, then makes a pass backward, can result in a ball that is still moving “forward”.
The story is in reference to rugby but this is an issue in gridiron football as well. A runner laterals the ball, and there is a question of whether it was a forward pass. A debate ensues, and it’s really a matter of whose reference frame is to be used: the runner’s or the ground’s. I’d like to cite the NFL rules on this, but I can’t find them online — the NFL.com site has a “Digest of Rules” but I don’t want some pre-chewed interpretation. I’d like to see the actual wording to see if they define what a forward pass is.
In Rugby Union – which I guess is the primogenitor and in which the occurence is much more frequent – the actual rules are unclear
DEFINITION: THROW FORWARD
A throw forward occurs when a player throws or passes the ball forward.
‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line.
No clue as to absolute movement or direction being the defining feature.
Most of the time they will be the same except when two speedsters are flying down the pitch. I have never seen a forward pass given if the pass is clearly and deliberately passed in a direction behind the passing player – even if it clearly moves forward with relation to the pitch
Good point. I had never thought of this issue in football. I think most NFL people would give you the side-eye if you started talking about frames of reference; I doubt they’ve ever considered any frames of reference other than that of the field, so they probably don’t even think in terms of frames of reference.
What I’m trying to say is that the rules favor the field’s frame of reference, probably without thinking about frames of reference, because the criterion for whether a pass is forward or not is the angle between its trajectory and the yardlines.