Back to the ball
Why it works
A receiver in a game almost never sees the ball leave. He turns and it is already coming, and the half second he spends locating it is the half second that decides the catch. Turning his back removes every other variable and leaves only that.
Run it
6 MINSix each, thrown somewhere different every time. Six minutes. If he starts guessing right, you are throwing in a pattern.
Say this
“Head first, then feet.”
You cannot move to a ball you have not found.
“Hands come up as you find it, not after.”
The hands travel while the feet do.
“Go and get it. It is not coming to you.”
The ball is deliberately not thrown at where he is standing.
Good looks like
- The head turns clearly before the shoulders and the feet.
- Hands are coming up during the turn, not after it.
- He moves to the ball on every rep, including the ones thrown right at him.
- No rep where he finds the ball and then stands still.
The mistakes
Spinning the whole body and then searching, which wastes the turn.
Say: “Head first, then feet.”
Turning, locating, and only then lifting the hands, which is one beat too many.
Say: “Hands come up as you find it, not after.”
Waiting on the spot for a ball that was never going there.
Say: “Go and get it. It is not coming to you.”
Shout go a beat before you throw, so the turn and the flight do not overlap. Add the late call once the turn is quick.
Say nothing at all. The only cue is the sound of the throw.