Stretch it out
Why it works
A throwing arm wants to be loaded in stages, and a receiver's hands want easy balls before hard ones. Walking the distance out in four steps gives both of those at once, and it means the first deep ball of practice is not the first hard throw of the day.
Run it
5 MINFour catches each at five, ten, fifteen and twenty, which is sixteen each. Five minutes. Stop at the distance where it stops being clean rather than finishing the ladder for the sake of it.
Say this
“Thumbs together high, pinkies together low.”
Above the belt the hands make a diamond, below it they make a basket, and a receiver who gets that wrong drops a ball he had.
“Step into the throw.”
At fifteen and twenty yards an arm alone cannot get there, so the front foot has to do it.
“Catch it, then look at it.”
Turning the head to run before the ball is in is the most common drop in youth football.
Good looks like
- Hand shape changes between a high ball and a low one without being told.
- The front foot steps towards the partner on every throw past ten yards.
- Catches are made with hands out in front rather than trapped against the chest.
- Twenty-yard throws are on a line rather than lobbed.
The mistakes
One flat pair of hands for everything, which works at five yards and fails the first time a ball arrives at the knees.
Say: “Thumbs together high, pinkies together low.”
Standing still and throwing harder, which is how the ball starts sailing and how an elbow gets sore.
Say: “Step into the throw.”
Eyes up field early. Have them call out the number or the laces on the ball after every catch.
Say: “Catch it, then look at it.”
Three yards out to ten, and allow an underhand throw the whole way. At this age a catch at ten yards is a real achievement.
From fifteen yards make it a moving throw: the thrower sets his feet while the receiver runs a five-yard out, so the last four are on the run.