The Indoor Football League is at its core, American football. There's touchdowns. There's four 15 minute quarters. Each team gets three timeouts per half.  A lot of the rules are similar to the NCAA. However, there are a number of unique twists that make indoor football an entirely different ball game, outside of the obvious (there are walls). Before we get into those, let's start with some of the verbiage that you'll only hear in the IFL. 

ALLEY:

this is the area between the two outside offensive linemen, and it is bordered by their outside shoulders. This area is established at the snap and does not move during the down. Similar to "the pocket" in the NFL and NCAA.

BELT:

this is the area that is five yards beyond the defensive line of scrimmage. It runs sideline to sideline and disappears at the snap. This area is important when it comes to blitzing, and I'll explain why in the next term definition.

BLITZER:

Yes, this is one of Santa's reindeer, but that's not what we're referring to here. In the IFL, there's only three offensive linemen, so blitzing usually means you're getting to the quarterback untouched. To counter this, the league set up the Blitzer rule, which means that if a player is going to blitz, they must identify themselves to the offense and the officials by raising his hand if there are two linebackers in the box. At the snap, he must be located in the Alley and behind the Belt. 

IN THE BANK:

if a penalty occurs that cannot be enforced on the kick-off, it is "in the bank" and will be enforced on the next play from scrimmage. A half cannot end with a penalty in the bank, so if there is one then an untimed down will be played out from the new spot after the penalty is enforced. 

DROP KICK: 

This is one that you usually see in Rugby. The drop kick is exactly what it sounds like. A player drops the ball towards the ground and kicks the ball simultaneously as it hits the ground. If a player can make a field goal using this technique, it's worth four points instead of three. If you drop kick on a PAT and make it, it's worth two points. 

SIDELINE WALLS: 

these are the walls you see at IFL games that surround the playing field. They are required to have three to five feet of high density foam padding.

SHADING:

this refers to when defensive linemen line up on the line of scrimmage and their inside shoulder is lined up with the offensive lineman's outside shoulder, almost as if they were the O-Lineman's shadow.

STUNT (OR TWIST): 

this is an effective pass-rush maneuver that defensive linemen will use where they will switch gaps by having one player cross behind or in front of the linemen next to them. In basketball terms, It's like they're running a pick and roll on an offensive lineman. 

DEUCE:

one of the IFL's newest rules implemented the deuce, which gives kickers the opportunity to score two points for their team if they kick the ball through the uprights on a kickoff. Kickoffs occur from the goal line, so that's basically a 58 yard field goal with no rush, snap or hold. Kickers can use a one inch tee. Get a kicker with a strong enough leg, and kickoffs turn into scoring opportunities. However, they are limited, as the Deuce scoring is only in effect during the last minute of each half. If the kick goes wide of the uprights and out of bounds, the receiving team starts with the ball on their own 20 yard line. If the kicking team commits a penalty during the kick and the kick is good, the "Deuce" is not scored, and the ball is spotted at the 25-yard line. The kick will not be repeated. If the receiving team commits a penalty during the kick and the kick is good, the penalty is declined by rule and the ball is spotted at the five yard line.

ROUGE:

 similar to a safety, if a kickoff is downed in the end zone or a player is unable to get out of the end zone with possession of the ball, the kicking team scores a rouge, which gets them one point. 

Now that we've covered some of the vocab that is specific to the IFL, let's look at some of the rules that are different from traditional American football. 

• Because the field is smaller than an NFL or NCAA field (85 feet wide, 50 yards long with eight yard end zones), punting is illegal. On fourth down, teams may go for it or try to kick a field goal. The goal posts are also smaller (nine feet wide, crossbar height of 15 feet; NFL is 18.5 feet wide, crossbar at 10 feet)

• The IFL roster size is much smaller than the NFL. The IFL allows a 25 man regular season roster with 4 inactive players, meaning you have 21 active players available for each game. NFL teams carry a 53 man roster with 7 inactives, which adds up to 46 total active players each game. 

• IFL action is 8 on 8, while the NFL is 11 on 11.

• The offensive line must consist of four players. The NFL usually has 5 and will sometimes add a tight end onto the end of the line in short yardage situations. 

• There must be three down defensive linemen, meaning they must be in a three or four point stance. One linebacker may blitz on either side of the center and must identify as a Blitzer if there is another linebacker present, as I mentioned earlier. 

• Defensive linemen are not allowed to line up any wider off of the offensive linemen than shoulder to shoulder distance (also referred to as "shading", as I mentioned earlier). On field goal attempts, they must line up head to head with the O-line. D-Linemen are not allowed to stunt except when in scrimmage kick formation.

• One of the most notable tweaks to the IFL game is that forward motion is allowed before the snap for two receivers. This gives receivers an advantage, especially on deep routes. The ball must still be snapped before those two receivers cross the line of scrimmage, or it is a false start. Three or more players in motion is also deemed a false start. 

• With clock stoppage, the rules are similar to the NCAA with a few differences. The clock does not stop when a touchdown is scored until after the PAT. There is a one minute warning before the end of each half instead of a two minute warning. When inside of that time, two minute NCAA rules apply. 

• Any kickoff that goes untouched and ends up out of bounds will be spotted either at the kicking team's 20 yard line or the spot where the ball went out of bounds, depending on which is more advantageous for the receiving team. 

• When it comes to rules involving the walls, it's pretty straightforward. If a forward pass hits the wall, it's an incomplete pass. The play is blown dead as soon as the ball hits the wall. However, when it comes to a catch or no catch decision, it's pretty dang complicated. Just like the NFL. 

• Over the wall catches are only legal in certain situations. The key factor here? Contact. If a receiver goes over the wall without any part of his body touching the wall, he is ruled out of bounds and the catch is nullified. If a defensive player is able to force a receiver out of bounds without causing the receiver to touch the wall with any part of his body (think WWE body slam), the receiver is out of bounds and the play is ruled an incomplete pass. Now if a receiver makes contact with the wall during the process of the catch, with any part of his body, before he goes over the wall, AND he secures possession of the ball over the wall, he is in bounds and the play is ruled a catch. 

• Overtime rules are the same as college football. Each overtime period consists of both teams getting one possession. The possession starts on their opponents 20 yard line, unless relocated by penalty. If the score is still tied after both possessions, they go to a second overtime. After the third overtime, both teams must attempt a two point conversion if they score a touchdown. 

Let us know what you think about the IFL's rules/ if you have any questions about them on our social media channels! @sdstrikeforce