Fake and roll
Why it works
Play action only works if the fake looks exactly like the run, and at young ages the fake is usually a quarterback waving the ball near the back. Three players in a corner gives every quarterback and back enough reps to make the fake identical to the real thing, before a defence is ever added.
Run it
8 MINEight minutes, about nine reps each, three in each spot. Stop when the fakes start getting lazy; a lazy fake practised is worse than no fake.
Say this
“Back, run like you have it.”
Defenders read the back, so a back who slows down after the fake gives the play away.
“Hide it on your hip.”
The ball held behind the hip is invisible from the front, which is where every defender is looking.
“Set your feet, then throw.”
Throwing on the run is the hardest throw at any age; a step to set turns it into an easy one.
Good looks like
- From the receiver's spot, you cannot tell whether the back has the ball.
- The back runs at least five yards hard after the fake.
- The ball stays on the quarterback's hip until he plants.
- Throws arrive chest high to a receiver who is standing still.
The mistakes
The back stopping to watch the quarterback throw. Make him run through a cone five yards past the fake before the rep counts.
Say: “Back, run like you have it.”
The quarterback pulling the ball and holding it up at chest height straight away. Have a teammate stand where a linebacker would and call out if he sees it.
Say: “Hide it on your hip.”
Throwing off the back foot while still rolling, and the ball sails. Put a cone at the end of the roll and make him plant at it.
Say: “Set your feet, then throw.”
Walk through it with the pocket fake only, and have the quarterback hand the ball to the receiver at the end instead of throwing, so the lesson is the fake and the hide.
Add a linebacker who reacts to the fake and a second receiver, so the quarterback has to read whether the linebacker bit before choosing the throw.