Football Catching Fundamentals
When a receiver catches the ball they need to immediately put it into a secure ball carrying position. A great catch can be broken down into three steps: First, keep your arms extended out in front of your body with your hands out forming an imaginary triangle with your fingers and thumbs. Second, follow the ball through with your eyes. Third, roll the ball into a secure ball position before you take your eyes off the ball. Bad habits can form easily as many receivers look away mid catch to scan the field for defenders. This error leads to incomplete passes or worse, a fumble. To overcome this habit set up a simple drill where two players pass the ball to each other stopping at each critical step: the catch, the follow through, and the tuck.
Catching the ball high
As a receiver, or any player that is going to catch a pass, you know that not all passes are going to go right to the chest. Because of the variety of passes that you might receive here are some basics to high pass catching: When you go to make the high catch extend your arms, but keep your hands close together with your hands coming together in a diamond formation. When you try to catch the ball with your body there is a greater chance that it is going to bounce off and cause an incomplete pass. Important to look the catch through and tuck it away. If you are taking your eyes off for any reason you will lose focus and have a greater chance to miss the pass, or worse, fumble the football.
Around the world: Improved Ball Handling
This drill is used to increase players ball handling skills on the field. The secret to this drill is having the ball constantly moving around and from hand to hand. The drill starts with the head moving the ball in a circular motion from hand to hand, then proceeds to go under the arms, around the waist, then the knees, and finally through and in between the players legs.
In this drill the coaches responsibility is to observe the smoothness of the drill, and to also shout commands of body positions to move the ball around, and also to reverse the direction of the football. Changing the direction of the football ensures that they dont form a habit, and that they remained focused on the ball and controlling the movement.
We recommend that you end this drill by doing several football drops. For example, the player drops the ball and retrieves it quickly. To further increase pickup skills have your players change up the hands that they are using so that both their strong and weak hands are developed.
Forcing the Fumble
There is a golden rule in football defense, get the ball to the offensive team as quickly as possible. The fastest way to gain possession of the ball is to force an offensive player to fumble the football. Practice dislodging the football on the field in pairs of players. The point is to have the defensive player throw the fist into the football causing the offensive player to fumble the football. This drill is most effective if you start it slow focusing on the motions needed to be effective, and then speed up over time.
When a receiver catches the ball they need to immediately put it into a secure ball carrying position. A great catch can be broken down into three steps: First, keep your arms extended out in front of your body with your hands out forming an imaginary triangle with your fingers and thumbs. Second, follow the ball through with your eyes. Third, roll the ball into a secure ball position before you take your eyes off the ball. Bad habits can form easily as many receivers look away mid catch to scan the field for defenders. This error leads to incomplete passes or worse, a fumble. To overcome this habit set up a simple drill where two players pass the ball to each other stopping at each critical step: the catch, the follow through, and the tuck.
Catching the ball high
As a receiver, or any player that is going to catch a pass, you know that not all passes are going to go right to the chest. Because of the variety of passes that you might receive here are some basics to high pass catching: When you go to make the high catch extend your arms, but keep your hands close together with your hands coming together in a diamond formation. When you try to catch the ball with your body there is a greater chance that it is going to bounce off and cause an incomplete pass. Important to look the catch through and tuck it away. If you are taking your eyes off for any reason you will lose focus and have a greater chance to miss the pass, or worse, fumble the football.
Around the world: Improved Ball Handling
This drill is used to increase players ball handling skills on the field. The secret to this drill is having the ball constantly moving around and from hand to hand. The drill starts with the head moving the ball in a circular motion from hand to hand, then proceeds to go under the arms, around the waist, then the knees, and finally through and in between the players legs.
In this drill the coaches responsibility is to observe the smoothness of the drill, and to also shout commands of body positions to move the ball around, and also to reverse the direction of the football. Changing the direction of the football ensures that they dont form a habit, and that they remained focused on the ball and controlling the movement.
We recommend that you end this drill by doing several football drops. For example, the player drops the ball and retrieves it quickly. To further increase pickup skills have your players change up the hands that they are using so that both their strong and weak hands are developed.
Forcing the Fumble
There is a golden rule in football defense, get the ball to the offensive team as quickly as possible. The fastest way to gain possession of the ball is to force an offensive player to fumble the football. Practice dislodging the football on the field in pairs of players. The point is to have the defensive player throw the fist into the football causing the offensive player to fumble the football. This drill is most effective if you start it slow focusing on the motions needed to be effective, and then speed up over time.