Welcome, and thank you for subscribing to this website to enhance your knowledge and understanding of football rules - whether high school or college or both. If you've made it this far, chances are you're already a football official, in which case you have probably noticed that your Rule Book is pretty small physically, but there's a huge amount of information contained within it. These study cards were developed to break down the giant amount of information in the Rule Book into much smaller, more manageable bits. There's a wise saying that "The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step." Another expression of the same concept is that "The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time." If the Rule Book is represented by the 1000 mile journey or the elephant, then these study cards each represent a step or a bite.

Be patient with yourself, but also be disciplined and stay consistent with it. Nobody ever read the Rule Book one time from cover to cover and then knew/understood everything. It takes time and repetition. This is why, to aid in your use of this study tool, I have also created a schedule for you. You are, of course, under no obligation to adhere to this schedule, but I can assure you that if you do, it will raise your knowledge of football rules noticeably. It's like working out: nobody ever went to the gym, worked out once and then looked different - but with time and consistency, it does make a difference. Same thing with this.

Maybe your desire is to move up from high school to college, or from D-3 to D-2, or from D-2 to D-1. Or maybe you simply want to be the best you can be for the level you are presently working. Whatever the case is, please contact me with your success story. As I have expressed elsewhere on this website, we football officials are a family. We help each other. We have each other's back. If anything I have done in creating all of this helps you to be better and achieve a higher level of success, then I truly rejoice in that - and your success does not take away anything from me whatsoever. Are you ready? Let's rock.

The overall objective with these flash cards is to get to a point where you can read the front and then be able to tell everything on the back. It does not need to be a word-for-word memorization, and if the back side contains a numbered list, you do not need to be able to recite them in the exact same order. The goal is to be able to hit all of the relevant points on the back side of the card. You will do this by repeating and rehearsing five cards at a time, one day at a time, with frequent review of previous material.

Every day, we all have "brain dead" time. This is when we do things that require little to no mental focus on anything else. For example: shaving, taking a shower, walking the dogs, driving, mowing the yard, standing in line at the post office and so forth. These are all small pockets of time when your brain might be occupied with things like a movie you watched last night, or singing a song, or (worst of all) fretting over something that somebody said on Facebook. Those same pockets of time, however, could instead be occupied with rehearsing football rules. So, for example, before you get into the shower, read one or two cards - front and back. Then, the whole time you are in the shower, repeat in your mind over and over and over and over what is on the front and back of that card. The repetition is what makes this information stick in your long-term memory. In the beginning, the goal is to master five cards per day. Here is the recommended material for you to work on, day by day, for NFHS of NCAA rules. You may find it helpful to put each day's assignment on a calendar so it is readily visible. When you successfully master that day's assignment, check it off on the calendar. That way, when you see a calendar full of checked off tasks, you actually see the progress you are making and it builds psychological momentum.

Notice that on Day Three, you are not going on to the third set of five cards. Instead, you are reviewing what you covered on Day One and Day Two. Frequent review helps with retention. If you just studied five cards per day, from start to finish, then by the time you get to the last set of five, you will likely have forgotten what's on the first set of five. Doing it this way with frequent review, it locks the information into your brain...and thus, you can recall it on the field when it matters the most.

NFHS takes 80 days

Day 1: 5 Yard Penalties 1-5

Day 2: 6-10

Day 3: 1-10

Day 4: 11-15

Day 5: 16-20

Day 6: 11-20

Day 7: 1-20

Day 8: 21-25

Day 9: 21-25

Day 10: 1-25

Day 11: 10 Yard Penalties 1-4

Day 12: 5-8

Day 13: 1-8

Day 14: 1-8

Day 15: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties

Day 16: 15 Yard Penalties 1-5

Day 17: 6-10

Day 18: 1-10

Day 19: 11-15

Day 20: 16-20

Day 21: 11-20

Day 22: 1-20

Day 23: 21-25

Day 24: 26-29

Day 25: 21-29

Day 26: 21-29

Day 27: 1-29

Day 28: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties; All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 29: Rules 1-5

Day 30: 6-10

Day 31: 1-10

Day 32: 11-15

Day 33: 16-20

Day 34: 11-20

Day 35:1-20

Day 36: 21-25

Day 37: 26-30

Day 38: 21-30

Day 39: 31-35

Day 40: 36-40

Day 41: 31-40

Day 42: 21-40

Day 43: 1-40

Day 44: 41-45

Day 45: 46-50

Day 46: 41-50

Day 47: 51-55

Day 48: 56-60

Day 49: 51-60

Day 50: 41-60

Day 51: 61-65

Day 52: 66-70

Day 53: 61-70

Day 54: 71-72

Day 55: 61-72

Day 56: 51-72

Day 57: 41-72

Day 58: 1-72

Day 59: All 5 Yard Penalties

Day 60: All 10 Yard Penalties

Day 61: All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 62: All Rules

Day 63: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties; All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 64: All Rules

Day 65: Enforcements 1-5

Day 66: 6-10

Day 67: 1-10

Day 68: 11-15

Day 69: 16-20

Day 70: 11-20

Day 71: 1-20

Day 72: 21-25

Day 73: 26-30

Day 74: 21-30

Day 75: 31-32

Day 76: 21-32

Day 77: 11-32

Day 78: 1-32

Day 79: All Rules

Day 80: All Penalties; All Enforcements

Now just go over all cards once a week. Whatever ones you miss (that is, there was something on the back side that you did not recite to yourself), mark those down and what it was on the back of the card that you didn't get quite right. That will be your focus in the following week, Just study the ones you didn't get completely right. After a week of this, go back to the beginning and go through all the cards, again marking the ones you didn't get completely correct. Hopefully, each time you go through all of this, the number of cards in your "Not quite completely right" pile will get smaller and smaller until eventually you can go through all the cards and know all the information on the back side. At that point, I would ask you: how do you feel about your rules knowledge now?

NCAA takes 165 days

Day 1: 5 Yard Penalties 1-5

Day 2: 6-10

Day 3: 1-10

Day 4: 11-15

Day 5: 16-20

Day 6: 11-20

Day 7: 1-20

Day 8: 21-25

Day 9: 26-30

Day 10: 21-30

Day 11: 31-35

Day 12: 36-40

Day 13: 31-40

Day 14: 21-40

Day 15: 1-40

Day 16: 41-45

Day 17: 41-45

Day 18: 1-45

Day 19: 10 Yard Penalties 1-5

Day 20: 6-10

Day 21: 1-10

Day 22: 11-14

Day 23: 11-14

Day 24: 1-14

Day 25: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties

Day 26: 15 Yard Penalties 1-5

Day 27: 6-10

Day 28: 1-10

Day 29: 11-15

Day 30: 16-20

Day 31: 11-20

Day 32: 1-20

Day 33: 21-25

Day 34: 26-30

Day 35: 21-30

Day 36: 31-35

Day 37: 36-40

Day 38: 31-40

Day 39: 21-40

Day 40: 1-40

Day 41: 41-45

Day 42: 41-45

Day 43: 1-45

Day 44: All 5 Yard Penalties

Day 45: All 10 Yard Penalties

Day 46: All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 47: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties; All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 48: Rules 1-5

Day 49: 6-10

Day 50: 1-10

Day 51: 11-15

Day 52: 16-20

Day 53: 11-20

Day 54: 1-20

Day 55: 21-25

Day 56: 26-30

Day 57: 21-30

Day 58: 31-35

Day 59: 36-40

Day 60: 31-40

Day 61: 21-40

Day 62: 1-40

Day 63: 41-45

Day 64: 46-50

Day 65: 41-50

Day 66: 51-55

Day 67 : 56-60

Day 68: 51-60

Day 69: 41-60

Day 70: 61-65

Day 71: 66-70

Day 72: 61-70

Day 73: 71-75

Day 74: 76-80

Day 75: 71-80

Day 76: 61-80

Day 77: 41-80

Day 78: 1-80

Day 79: 81-85

Day 80: 86-90

Day 81: 81-90

Day 82: 91-95

Day 83: 96-100

Day 84: 91-100

Day 85: 81-100

Day 86: 101-105

Day 87: 106-110

Day 88: 101-110

Day 89: 111-115

Day 90: 116-120

Day 91: 111-120

Day 92: 101-120

Day 93: 81-120

Day 94: 121-125

Day 95: 126-130

Day 96: 121-130

Day 97: 131-135

Day 98: 136-140

Day 99: 131-140

Day 100: 121-140

Day 101: 141-145

Day 102: 146-150

Day 103: 141-150

Day 104: 151-155

Day 105: 156-159

Day 106: 151-159

Day 107: 141-159

Day 108: 121-159

Day 109: 81-159

Day 110: 1-159

Day 111: All 5 Yard Penalties

Day 112: All 10 Yard Penalties

Day 113: All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 114: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties; All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 115: All Rules

Day 116: Enforcements 1-5

Day 117: 6-10

Day 118: 1-10

Day 119: 11-15

Day 120: 16-20

Day 121: 11-20

Day 122: 1-20

Day 123: 21-25

Day 124: 26-30

Day 125: 21-30

Day 126: 31-35

Day 127: 36-40

Day 128: 31-40

Day 129: 21-40

Day 130: 1-40

Day 131: 41-45

Day 132: 46-50

Day 133: 41-50

Day 134: 51-55

Day 135: 56-60

Day 136: 51-60

Day 137: 41-60

Day 138: 61-65

Day 139: 66-70

Day 140: 61-70

Day 141: 71-75

Day 142: 76-80

Day 143: 71-80

Day 144: 61-80

Day 145: 41-80

Day 146: 1-80

Day 147: 81-85

Day 148: 86-90

Day 149: 81-90

Day 150: 91-95

Day 151: 96-100

Day 152: 91-100

Day 153: 81-100

Day 154: 101-105

Day 155: 106-111

Day 156: 101-111

Day 157: 91-111

Day 158: 81-111

Day 159: 1-111

Day 160: 1-111

Day 161: All 5 Yard Penalties; All 10 Yard Penalties

Day 162: All 15 Yard Penalties

Day 163: All Rules

Day 164: All Enforcements

Day 165: All cards

Now do the same thing described at the end of the NFHS schedule.