Catching the ball high

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: Make a diamond with their forefingers and thumbs. When you have your hands extended you are performing a proper catch, remember, and dont ever catch it with your body. Once you have your hands around the ball, dont take your eyes off the ball but follow it right into your tuck. When you practice a high catch you are going to perform it subconsciously on the field, so remember extend the arms, catch and follow through.

Protecting the football as you run

One of the fundamental aspects of running with a football is ball security. There is nothing worse than almost getting a first down or even a touchdown and fumbling the ball, for this reason there is a great need for ball security. A great way to teach tight ball security is with four points. The first point is the claw, meaning that your fingers are wrapped over the tip of the football. The second point is making sure that your forearm is wrapped tightly on the outer rim of the football. The third point is securing the other point of the football with your bicep making sure that it is right up against it. Fourth, pull the football up and tight against your ribcage closing the gap on the football from all four sides. As a player, you will want to make sure that you are well practiced in this skill, and as a coach you should dedicate some time to ball carrying skills. As your ball carrying continues to improve you will insure less turnovers and greater success on the field.

Ball handling Drill: Hot potato

Without a solid foundation of ball handling players will be easy prey to a solid defensive team. This drill is meant to help players control and develop their ball handling skills. The secret to this drill is having the ball constantly moving around and from hand to hand. The drill starts by having players hold the football above their head and start to pass it around their head, moving to the chest, under the arms, around the waist, knees, and completing with passing it through the legs.

The best thing that a coach can do is call out body parts that the players will have to move the ball around, or even calling a reverse command were the players will need to change the direction of the football. The reverse option is an important command as it will keep the players on their toes and focuses on concentration and ball handling.

When the coach calls and end to the drill the players will drop the ball several times (at least 7). This means that the player will drop the football and retrieve it again 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.

Conditioning: Cross jumping

Football is all about action and reaction, and those that practice reacting quickly in a variety of directions will dominate the field. This drill will help players quickly change directions on the field. Start out by placing the player on any crossing lined area on the field, anything like a small for square area. The drill starts by having a player stand in one area or box, and has them jump diagonally, laterally, frontwards, and backwards from one area to another. Some of the variations can be on legged; either right or left, or changing the order those players will perform the drill.