The High Toss Football Catch

High passes happen, and as a receiver you need to be ready for something unexpected. As such you need to practice the high passes so that you know to react, here are some basics: The first and most important is that you extend your arms and keep your hands together in a diamond type shape to catch that football. 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 Tip: never, ever, under any circumstances, for any reason, take your eyes off the ball; even after you have caught it watch the ball until you know that it is safely in your grips.

Some fundamentals of ball security

One of the fundamental aspects of running with a football is ball security. Nothing is worse for your offensive team then turning it over carelessly to the other team in a fumble. There are four points to protecting the football. First grab the football with your carrying hand with the tips of the football being covered with your fingers. The second point is your forearm wrapped around the ball and shielding it from the defense. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. Last point is to hold the back of the football right up against the ribcage and as you run keep it high and tight. Run a couple of drills were the ball carrier runs through a pack of defenders to practice. By reducing the risk of a fumble you will increase the offensive strength in effectively driving across the field and scoring touchdowns.

Strip Tackling

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. Practice these movements slowly to start muscle memory and to correct bad habits.

Conditioning: Quick step crossing

Football is all about action and reaction, and those that practice reacting quickly in a variety of directions will dominate the field. The point to this drill is having players practice quick directional changes on the field. Start out by placing the player on any crossing lined area on the field, anything like a small for square area. Once a players positions themselves in one of the corners they will proceed to jump from one corner of the area to other in either a patterned function or randomly. Coaches should encourage one foot jumping to increase further strength and reactions on the field.