6-1-2 Question

[sczeebra]

This happened tonight in a JV game. K places the ball on the ground with its long axis parallel to the sidelines(sideways) on the 40yd line and the tee is approximately 1yd to the side on the 40 also. K muddles behind the ball all legal and K40 runs as if to kick the ball and stops, the players then spread out and K40 picks up the ball, places it on the tee and proceeds to kick the ball deep. I tell my umpire at halftime this is a free kick infraction because K designated a spot when he placed the ball on the ground and failed to kick from that spot. Is K in violation of 6-1-2? Thanks as always.

[prab]

This happened tonight in a JV game. K places the ball on the ground with its long axis parallel to the sidelines(sideways) on the 40yd line and the tee is approximately 1yd to the side on the 40 also. K muddles behind the ball all legal and K40 runs as if to kick the ball and stops, the players then spread out and K40 picks up the ball, places it on the tee and proceeds to kick the ball deep. I tell my umpire at halftime this is a free kick infraction because K designated a spot when he placed the ball on the ground and failed to kick from that spot. Is K in violation of 6-1-2? Thanks as always.

You say K designated a spot when he placed the ball on the ground.

K will probably say that he designated a spot when he placed the tee on the ground .

Rule book does not further define "designated".

I think you can pass on a flag on this play under the "no harm no foul" theory.

As Howard Cosell used to say (or a reasonable interpretation thereof), I am never in doubt.  Often wrong, but never in doubt.

[Rulesman]

I could be wrong but I vaguely recall this topic, or something similar, come up a few years ago and the RFP was the key. If the ready has been blown then K could not move the ball. If all of this happened before the ready, no foul. Does anyone else remember this?

[The Roamin' Umpire]

I could be wrong but I vaguely recall this topic, or something similar, come up a few years ago and the RFP was the key. If the ready has been blown then K could not move the ball. If all of this happened before the ready, no foul. Does anyone else remember this?

I don't remember this, but it makes an awful lot of sense to me.

As a corollary, if the RFP wasn't blown and the kicker kicks it anyway, we have a foul for delay of game, just as would happen on a snap, yes?

When teams kick out of the muddle, we instruct the kicker to put his hand up while still in the huddle and blow it in then, for just that reason.

[d0d0joe]

I could be wrong but I vaguely recall this topic, or something similar, come up a few years ago and the RFP was the key. If the ready has been blown then K could not move the ball. If all of this happened before the ready, no foul. Does anyone else remember this?

We don't blow the ready for play until the ball is on the tee...If K then went and moved the ball off the tee: 

[Rulesman]

I don't remember this, but it makes an awful lot of sense to me.

As a corollary, if the RFP wasn't blown and the kicker kicks it anyway, we have a foul for delay of game, just as would happen on a snap, yes?

When teams kick out of the muddle, we instruct the kicker to put his hand up while still in the huddle and blow it in then, for just that reason.

Correct

The R should not let the kicker dictate the pace. The R should blow the RFP when the crew is ready.

[Stinterp]

Can the kicker place the ball on the ground on it's point and "lean" it against the tee?

[VA Official]

We don't blow the ready for play until the ball is on the tee...If K then went and moved the ball off the tee: 

That sounds like a very long game if the kicker chooses to drop kick.

I could be wrong but I vaguely recall this topic, or something similar, come up a few years ago and the RFP was the key. If the ready has been blown then K could not move the ball. If all of this happened before the ready, no foul. Does anyone else remember this?

This seems like the easiest way to interpret a "designated spot." I like it.

This reminds me of an event last year. We had a team with a skilled kicker who would onside with a drop kick. I, the BJ, would tell him to verbalize and point me to his designated spot prior to the RFP. Once he chose, I told him he wasn't allowed to deviate from that spot since he designated it. I told him he didn't need to announce it to the opposing team, but the officials did need to know his designated spot to rule on the legality of the kick. There was fear amongst our officials that if the kicker didn't verbalize his designation, he could have free range and start his walk up one way but then turn the other way and kick it the opposite direction. He could then "claim" his designated spot to be anywhere between the hashes after the fact.

[KWH]

Can the kicker place the ball on the ground on it's point and "lean" it against the tee?

Sure he can. Why? The act is not prohibited anywhere in the Rules Book. 
For Rules Book support, you need look no further than NFHS Rule 2-37