ave felt, therefore, that plays had to be designed to special men,
calling these men to special zones, one time one place, next time
another place, and then the play made as quickly as possible to this
special man. If the defense was confused and the man got loose, the play
succeeded (barring mechanical failure); if he did not it failed. This
represents a purely mechanical method. It harks back to the "old" game
where everything was as mechanical as possible and there was little need
of brain power and little occasion to make quick decisions. The quarter
made the decisions; the player did _what he was told to do_. The new
open game is not played that way; it opens up a world of choice and
possibility to the player. Therein lies its greatly increased mental
value.

The big reason that many coaches have failed with the "choice" method
of passing is that their plays have not been so designed as to give
their passer the necessary time for making a choice. They have allowed
the defense to "hurry" the passer. Some of the methods of preventing
this have already been indicated. Occasionally it may happen that a team
possesses a passer of great ability who cannot work the "choice" method.
For such a player "mechanical" plays must be built. But the
probabilities are that many men would develop this ability if they were
given practice and the opportunity.

CALL THE RECEIVER BEFORE PASSING.

It seems a very simple matter to say that the receiver should be called
_before_ the pass is made to him. It seems so simple that time is rarely
spent in practicing it. It is assumed that it will be done, but in
reality it is _not_ done. The usual thing is for the passer to hurl the
ball into the air and yell "ball." Let any coach actually insist once on
his passer calling his man _before_ he passes to him and see what
happens. And yet this is exactly the thing that will change the forward
pass game from a happy-go-lucky chance into a mathematical probability.
When the passer calls his man _before_ he passes he knows what he is
trying to do, the team knows, the receiver is given more time to get
into position, he is then given a better chance to catch the pass and
the rest of the team are given a chance to form interference. It is a
small thing to count as heavily as it does, but it is one of the small
things that make success.

KNOW WHERE THE RECEIVER IS TO GO.

Have it clearly worked out on every pass play where each eligible man is