It’s every wide receiver’s worse nightmare: you get a step on the defender, the quarterback sees that you’re open and lets a perfect pass fly. You’re watching the ball glide beautifully into your hands until, “clunk,” you’ve dropped the ball. This has happened to virtually every player at some point in his football careers, and there is almost no worst feeling.

You let your quarterback down, you let yourself down, and you let the team down when you drop passes.


Although there is no way to guarantee you will catch 100 percent of the passes thrown your way, you can increase your odds with a little bit of practice.

If you don’t have someone to throw it to you, it can be difficult to practice your catching technique. Fortunately, there are a few drills you can use to improve your hands all by your lonesome, should you be without a practice partner.

The Wall Catching Drill

All you need is a wall and a tennis ball to work on your reflexes and hand strength in this exercise. Stand about 10 feet away from a wall (best to do this outdoors) and throw the tennis ball against the wall with your right hand and catch it with your left 10 times. Then throw it with the right and catch it with the same hand 10 times. Then throw it against the wall and catch it with two hands 10 times. Add velocity and close your distance to make this drill more difficult.

If you can catch a tennis ball, you can catch a football. Make this drill a regular part of your routine and watch those drops disappear from your game.

If you have a partner, have them stand behind you and toss the ball, calling out a random hand for you to catch it with.

Tennis Ball Squeeze

You don’t even need the wall in this drill; the tennis ball alone will do. This exercise focuses solely on strengthening your hands, which is crucial when you need to make a big catch in traffic. Simply take a tennis ball and squeeze and hold for 90 seconds. Do this drill three times for each hand.

The Bat Flip

In this drill, the only equipment you’ll need is a baseball bat and some room. It’s best to perform this exercise with a plastic or foam bat to avoid injuries or damage to nearby property. This drill focuses on improving hand/eye coordination. Begin by holding the handle side of the bat with one hand extended out in front of you, palms down, bat straight. Use a slight flick of the wrist to flip the bat in the air and catch the handle again.

Take note of where you catch the bat - the goal is to make the catch with your hand as close to the handle as possible. The further away you are, the more work you have to do.

It’s impossible to replicate a quarterback throwing the ball when you have no one to practice with. But, a dedicated receiver can still hone his craft by strengthening the areas used to catch the football.