One way to imporve the flow of a game and look sharp involves the manner in which you bring a replacement
ball into the game. It takes hustle, accurate tosses and good ballboys, but it can be done properly even if the ballboys
are less than attentive.
For example, a play has ended out of bounds and the wing official has marked the spot by placing
the ball on the ground. He has secured another ball from the ballboy and has flipped it to another official. Depending
on how mnay yards the play gained, the other official could be the referee or the back judge.
The middle official in the "V" then gets the ball to the umpire, who is mirroring the wing official's
spot. There will be a fair amount of distance between officials so that means the official tossing the ball to the umpire
may have to jog towards the middle of the field in order to reduce the distance and ensure an accurate toss. Never toss
the ball around or over players and use a firm but soft underhand toss.
A replacement ball should be brought in anytime the ball becomes dead outside the numbers.
You'll likely change the ball more often in bad weather as well. Two other reminders: Keep the previous ball on
the ground until the replacement is set properly. Also, keep the ballboys off the field. Allowing them to run
onto the field shows laziness on the part of officials and increases the chances the ballboys will run onto the field at the
wrong time, which could be dangerous.
