The Forward Pass

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Every young quarterback dreams of throwing a long touchdown pass on the last play of a championship game. It's never difficult to get a quarterback to practice throwing the ball. But what may be hard is to make the quarterback practice the proper body mechanics needed to set up, step, and start his body moving correctly prior to releasing the ball.

Because passing the ball requires great concentration, correct grip, proper body movement and arm action, control of the football until the moment of release, and good follow though, it is extremely important that the quarterback practices the basics of passing over and over again until they become second nature to him.

Passing a football with accuracy has been compared to hitting a great golf shot. The motion of the two athletes is smooth, almost without effort, and the action of both is the same time after time. This consistency of movement is what each quarterback should strive to attain as he learns to pass the ball. His goal must be to grip the ball the same, to use identical footwork in setting up for each pass, to execute the same body movement as he moves forward to throw the ball, and to release the ball with as close to the same action as possible on every forward pass.

In addition to learning the mechanics of passing the ball from classic dropback style, the quarterback also must master the proper footwork and action for the various other types of passes that he will be asked to throw.

Depending on the type of offense being run, the quarterback often will be asked to execute a play-action pass as well as some type of movement pass where the quarterback does not drop directly back from the center, but instead moves to the outside of the center, either to the right or the left, to throw the ball, Often this type of moving pass will require the quarterback to learn the added skill of throwing the ball on the run.

The quarterback also needs to develop a grasp of the mental aspects of the passing game. On a running play, the quarterback's primary responsibility ends when he places the ball securely into the hands of the running back. With the exception of option plays, he is not required to make any decisions when executing a running play. This is not the case on passing plays.

Offensive coaches who like to run the ball have an old saying that there are three things that can happen every time a quarterback passes the ball and two of them are bad. A pass can be complete, or it can be incomplete or intercepted. The job of the quarterback is to make certain that the one good result, a completion, occurs more often than the two bad ones.

Once the quarterback is proficient in the mechanics of passing, he must learn how receivers run particular patterns, when the different patterns will open up, and the keys to the various types of defenses that he will face. The ability to read the defense is a skill that a quarterback will learn to master only after he has had years of playing experience.

In the beginning, the quarterback should limit himself to determining the difference between zone and man-to-man coverages, and to focusing on the preselected area of the field to which he will pass.

Many young quarterbacks get so wrapped up in trying to look for the first, the second, and finally the third receiver on a pass pattern that they forget to throw the ball. That is one of the reasons why it is so important for a coach to define and pinpoint the intended receiver for a novice quarterback. It is vital for both the coach and the quarterback never to forget that indecision is one of the greatest hindrances to good performance. For the beginning quarterback, a primary receiver and, if he is covered, one backup receiver, are all that should be considered.

Should the quarterback find that neither receiver is open, he must be prepared to run with the ball, gaining as much yardage as possible, rather than throwing an interception or incompletion, or taking a sack for a loss.

"Play Football The NFL Way" is the first Instructional Manual for Football Players and Coaches ever published by the NFL. It is the ultimate position-by-position guide of techniques and drills for Offense, Defense and Special Teams. Author Tom Bass is a former NFL coach with more than 20 years of experience with the Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For a personalized autographed copy of "Play Football the NFL Way," plus information on Coach Bass Sport Maps--the new Official NFL Licensed Football Guides to watching, enjoying and understanding all the action on the field, for all fans--please visit www.CoachBass.com.

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Copyright © Thomas L. Bass 2006. All rights reserved.