We welcome Ryan Hockman, former NCAA- University of Kentucky QB and Director of the Score 6 Academy as well as Precision Football.  We are honored that he will be doing a blog for the MYAA as well as speaking at our Youth Football Coaches Clinic in Livonia. (Visit at www.precisionfootball.net)

Welcome back to Go Deep, the blog about quarterbacking and the passing game. 

Since last year’s fascination with Tim Tebow and fixing his throwing motion, the desire for throwing motion information from coaches and quarterbacks has increased like I have never seen it.  While the last ten years has seen major growth in the industry of private quarterback coaching, it has really taken off because of the interest in guys like Tim.  With that interest comes both useful and useless information.  Some of the information, especially on the throwing motion is simply wrong. 

Most of the information I received growing up is similar to the way most kids learn to throw.  Most learn first from their dads, then from a baseball coach.  Because the baseball is so light, kids learn to throw with their arms, using very little of their body. 

The best way to understand the action of the throw is to know that it is a pull and the entire body should be used, extending every joint upward and forward.  So simply put, the first half of the throw, the joints are loading or cocking back, and the second part of the throw is heading toward full extension of those joints.

Nowadays, there is much more information, but mostly there are two schools of thought on the football throw.  There is one group who teaches quarterbacks to rotate around the center of gravity while the other group teaches QBs to throw over the center over gravity.  I teach the second for a variety of reasons:

1.      By throwing over our center of gravity we are essentially taking out one of the two planes of movement of the arm.  In short, we move the arm along a vertical plane. This improves our chances for accuracy.  While we do throw to targets that are moving horizontally across our landscape, in order to be accurate in those throws all we need to do is throw with balance and directional attention.

2.      By throwing over our CG, we generate the most speed because our arm is supported by the rest of our body for the entire motion. Our legs, core and torso are much stronger than our arm. 

3.      By throwing over our CG, we minimize the tension on the elbow.  Again, because our arm is supported by our body, we can keep our arm relaxed. Also, we know that a relaxed muscle moves faster than a tense muscle.

Parts of the Throw

Grip:

The thumb should be exactly opposite the middle finger on the back end of the ball.  The tip of the middle finger should generally be placed on the first or second lace.  If the QB has large enough hands to put the middle of the finger on the 3^rd lace, do so.  In general, the closer the fingers are to the middle of the ball, the more control the QB will have.  Also, the ball should be gripped with fingertips, not the palm.  When the palm touches the ball friction is created which reduces spin.

The index finger is what puts spin on the ball.  It is the last part of the body that touches the ball before release.  The index finger should be relaxed.  The grip is really with three fingers and the thumb; and if possible, those three fingers should be on the laces. 

Starting the Throw

The Loaded Position:

At the end of and during our drop action, we want the QB to hold the football in the loaded position.  In this position, the arm is bent in a 90-degree angle with the upper arm and forearm parallel to the ground. The ball will be a few inches away from the throwing side breast, with the throwing wrist cocked.  Also, in the loaded position we want our knees bent, our chest high, and about 70% of our weight on our back foot.  Although we have 70% of our weight on our back foot, we want to keep the front shoulder level so we don’t “tell” the defenders that we are throwing when we drop the front shoulder.

To develop this position, the QB must stand with that posture for a long time.  He must perform all of his drops with this posture.  Over and over.

The Lead Side

Believe it or not, the first part of the body to move in the throw should be the front side.  Many novice throwers only use the dominant side (right side for right-handed throwers) of their body when they throw. 

Once we take the front hand off the ball it should go up to allow the lead elbow to come straight down to the ribcage and stop.  The laws of physics best explain why we do this: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  The faster and straighter the lead arm goes through the motion, the faster and straighter the throwing arm will go through the motion.  To get the most out of the lead side, we teach a technique known as blocking.  Blocking is essentially what it says: the lead side needs to block or contain the follow through so that it doesn’t leak out to the back side.  If the lead elbow finishes behind the body, the resulting action is that the throwing shoulder will get too far out in front, pulling the finish across the target line.  Blocking helps to keep the chest going at the target.

As the arm moves, so does the front foot.  To deliver, the front foot opens slightly past the target and moves no farther than a foot.  During the movement, most of the weight is still on the back foot. 

The L Position:

From the loaded position the throwing shoulder rotates externally so the forearm simply rises vertically to the L position.  In this position, the ball is directly behind the head of the thrower with the nose of the ball pointing away from the target.  Again, this position keeps the arm in a 90-degree angle.  To find the L position, the QB must move from the loaded position to the L position, pause, and reload… over and over. 

The purpose of the L is to keep the arm back and delayed.  More about that later.

Note: For some throwers, I teach them to go from Loaded to the C position. This can be a faster, less rotational throwing motion.  The drawback is that the thrower can lose leverage because his arm moves through the motion faster than the hips.

As the arms are moving backward, the hips begin to rotate forward, opening the belly and chest to the target so that the time the QB gets his arm to the C position both of his toes and knees are facing the target.

The C Position:

From the L position the QB takes his arm to the C position.  The C is a full body movement.  In this position, the thrower is facing his target. The C is made with the ball behind the head of the thrower to the heel of the thrower’s back leg.  There is another closely related position that we do NOT want to create and that is a bracket like this [. The C position means that we are arching our back.  In this position we are generating leverage by keeping our front hip in front of our throwing shoulder.  This is the position that produces the core whipping action that generates torque.  If you picture the angle a pole vaulter puts his pole in the ground and then the bend he gets because of that angle, then you can picture the bend we want with the back.  If the pole is vertical, he has generated no leverage and will not produce the whip that propels him over the bar.  Leverage for the throw is the same. 

To go from the L to the C, the thrower will push the elbow toward the sky, keeping his chest up, back arched, and head still.

Creating the C position is not easy.  It requires strength and mobility in the spine and surrounding muscles.  To be an elite thrower of any kind (pitcher, outfielder, QB, javelin thrower, etc) means you have to have core stability and strength.  I have clients who spend hours in the off-season with gymnastics coaches to learn and strengthen these positions.  It pays off.

During the C position, the dominant side will start to extend.  First, the toes, then the ankle, then the knee, hip, torso and finally the shoulder.  When the shoulder starts forward is when the arm is working toward extension.

Delaying the Arm

To generate the full body whip requires the thrower to delay the release of the arm.  If you imagine the body as the handle of a whip, the arm is the whip.  It should be relaxed.  The more the handle is tilted back (C position for the throw) the more the whip is generated. 

To keep the arm back during the motion, the thrower wants to keep his arm in the L position as the hips rotate.  After the hip rotates, the elbow pushes up from the L to the C position and on through to extension.  If the arm releases early, leverage – and velocity or distance – is lost.

Extension

From the C position the thrower wants to extend the hand over the CG and release the ball consistently from no lower than a 10-degree angle.  Drew Brees releases at a 6-degree angle.  If the release point happens past 10 degrees, the nose of the ball comes down.

The final part of the whip of the football is done the same way a baseball is snapped with the wrist and elbow.  With the ball gripped, the QB should cock the wrist.  To coordinate the timing of the release so that the wrist and elbow unload in quick succession, the QB must practice this movement over and over.  You can do this while lying on the ground with the back tip of the football touching your forehead.  Simply unload the elbow, then the wrist.  When doing this, feel the ball leave your index finger and point that finger at an imaginary target.

Finish

The finish of the throw will take the arm inside of the thigh opposite the throwing hand. 

Once again, I’d like to thank the MYAA for allowing me to share my knowledge of the quarterback position.  If you are interested in learning more about throwing, contact me at Hockman@ASAP-Sports.com.

Ryan Hockman

Score 6 QB Academy