Upright Crossbar Review Plane
Official Ballistic Trajectory & Visual GeometryEndzone Fan Parallax Phenomenon (Why the Crowd Celebrated)
The kick passed 2.4 ft above the 35 ft upright tip. Because fans in Section 22 view the goalposts at an 18.5° diagonal azimuth, the line-of-sight vector projects the high football directly between the upright posts. However, in the true perpendicular crossbar plane, the ball was 10.8 inches wide of the right upright.
NCAA & NFL Rule 8-4-1: The Infinite Upright Plane
A field goal is officially declared successful if the entire ball passes between the outside limits of the uprights and above the crossbar, or directly over any portion of the crossbar and between the uprights extended indefinitely upward.
When kicks sail significantly above the physical 35-foot tips of the uprights (often 30 to 45 feet in the air), field officials positioned directly underneath each post must judge whether the 6.8-inch diameter football intersected the invisible vertical laser plane.
| Dimension Parameter | College (NCAA) | Pro (NFL) |
|---|---|---|
| Width Between Uprights | 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) | 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) |
| Crossbar Top Height | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) |
| Physical Upright Height | 35 ft (minimum 30 ft) | 35 ft (extended 2014) |
| Ball Review Metric | Vertical Ext. Plane | Vertical Ext. Plane |
Why Endzone Stadium Bleachers Create Optical Illusions
Human stereoscopic depth perception degrades rapidly beyond ~30 meters. For a student section or fan seated 25 yards behind the endzone and 15 yards to the right:
1. Projected Geometry: The near upright and far upright form an angular funnel. A ball traveling 30 feet in the air intersects the fan's retinal line-of-sight between the two yellow posts, even when the ball's true 3D spatial coordinate is 1 to 2 feet outside the boundary.
2. Magnus Aerodynamic Hook: Footballs kicked off-center acquire gyro-spin. As forward velocity decays from 75 mph to 42 mph near the crossbar, the Magnus side-force coefficient rises sharply, generating a sudden late hook right at the goal line plane.
3. Sound & Net Lag: At 50 yards away, sound takes ~130ms to reach the stands. Fans react to visual line-of-sight instantly before seeing the ball hit the protective net netting outside the post.