Pick a side
Why it works
Most youth quarterbacks are accurate in a line and lost in a game, because a line has one target. Two routes and one defender is the smallest possible version of a real read, and adding lines at every spot means nobody stands and watches.
Run it
10 MINEverybody through every spot once, which is about ten minutes with twelve kids. Keep the lines short and the rotation quick.
Say this
“Look before you step, not while you throw.”
The read happens with the feet still, and then the throw is just a throw.
“Defender, commit late.”
An early commit makes the read free and teaches nobody anything.
“Receivers, run it the same whether it is coming or not.”
A receiver who knows the ball is not his stops running, and that is what the defender reads.
Good looks like
- The quarterback's eyes move before his feet do.
- The throw leaves before the defender has fully arrived.
- Both receivers finish their routes at the same speed, every rep.
- Rotation is continuous. Nobody is waiting more than two reps.
The mistakes
Deciding mid-throw, which is where the wobbly ball and the interception both come from.
Say: “Look before you step, not while you throw.”
Picking a side before the ball is snapped, which turns the drill into catch.
Say: “Defender, commit late.”
Jogging the back half of a route once the throw goes the other way.
Say: “Receivers, run it the same whether it is coming or not.”
No defender at all. Coach points at a receiver as the quarterback sets, and the quarterback throws there.
Two defenders, so one side is genuinely taken away and the read has a right answer.