There may be no more important position than quarterback in the football field. Quarterback is one of the essential roles in football, and the reason behind that is that the quarterback should be able to lead the offense, throw the ball, hand it to the accurate player, and relay the plays to other players.
To get success in quarterback having consistently repeatable mechanics is always crucial. We all know good passes win the game, and the responsibility of knowing the positions of every player and executing the play are the qualities of a quarterback. Over the years, young passers are developing more into a specialized quarterback, which helps them get more skilled and makes them adept at throwing the ball.
In today’s blog, I will share about top youth quarterback training workouts and drills that should be included in all youth football sessions.
Workout to build Quarterback Strength.
In football everything starts with the quarterback, they should react in a snap of seconds and face the team with the expectation of leading them. Football is known for its hard work, and for quarterbacks, it becomes a lot more complicated. And workout for strength plays a significant role in the youth football quarterback performance.
Here are some quarterback specific strength training exercises.
- Dumbbell press.
Single-arm dumbbell press is the key for fitness, power, and strength-building athletes to improve muscle hypertrophy, upper body strength and reduce muscular dysfunction. Unilateral bench press variation, single-arm dumbbell press offers a lot of benefits that help to build a firm, athletic physique.
Start by lifting weight in one hand and lying into the bench, make sure that the non-weighted hand is either placed on the stomach or extended the same as another hand to create maximum back tension and stability.
Start by pulling the dumbbell slowly towards the body and pushing back, and repeating the same process with the other hand.
- Rotational Lunge Twist.
Lunge rotational twist targets glutes, abdominals, hip flexors, and hamstring that helps to develop the lower body strength for youth football quarterbacks. Working with a medicine ball while rotating and holding is a great exercise to build resilience that contracts your muscles to engage with your core while improving balance and proprioception.
You can start with a medicine ball and stand with feet about shoulder-width, and hold the ball with elbows bent 90 degrees. Step forward with your right foot into a primary lunge position. Being in a controlled manner, twist your upper body, and bring your arm back to the center. Repeat the process for ten reps.
- Shoulder Rotation.
Shoulder rotation helps increase range of motions, along with it prevents muscle injuries for youth quarterback football players, resulting in one of the crucial exercises football players can practice decreasing muscle soreness.
- Squats
Squats are universal exercises for everyone, and I love doing squats before my warm-up exercise.
A squat is a versatile exercise that targets many muscles in your lower body like for example,” quads, glutes, and hamstring”.
Once you have warmed up with a few reps, you can start lifting weights to increase the intensity of the exercise.
The squat has been the most popular exercise for everyone working out, but there is a lot to see about the posture you are squatting on. A wrong squat stance can result in irregular pains and back pains.
So here are the tips to make sure you are squatting correctly.
Stand with your hip one foot apart and turn your toes forward or little towards outside.
Make your back straight as shown in the video, and engage with your core, slowly lower your hips until your thighs are parallel to the ground or 90 degrees between the legs.
Pro tip: To know whether your back is straight or not, face your chin a little upwards and try to focus on 2 feet above your height level, which will eventually result in making your back straight.
Exhale and stand back and repeat the process for 3 to 4 reps.
Drills to improve Quarterbacks form.
Most of the drills explained for youth quarterback football are both fast-paced and straightforward but easy enough to be able to understand even for the inexperienced quarterbacks.
Single leg ball Squat Drill.
- Motive Behind the Drill: Single leg ball squat is one of the Effective Football conditioning tests, which helps you strengthen the core of your legs and majorly focuses on single-leg strength and stability.
- Set up: For this, you need one Swiss ball and flat wall to which you can place and squat.
- Procedure to do the Drill: Place the Swiss ball against the wall and put your back in the ball by pressing it through your back. If your one leg is weaker and one leg is more potent in this drill, it helps develop both legs’ same strength.
For an offensive Linemen, both legs should be equally stronger to run faster, and this Drilling helps you achieve that.
While pressing yourself into the Swiss ball, lower your body by squatting with your one leg, start with your more muscular leg, and gradually move to the weaker.
To have an effective Football conditioning drill, try to make your back straight while you squat, and also, as you get better with both the legs, start with lifting weights and continue squat.
Pat and Go Drill.
Pat and go is one of the most crucial drills for youth football quarterbacks, the back-shoulder throw is always the most underutilized throw in the game, and when quarterbacks throw the ball effectively, it becomes impossible to defend. It can hurt the defenders when thrown properly. Since the player can’t see the flight of the ball to protect, it becomes challenging to cover.
- Motive Behind the Drill: Pat and go Drill helps the quarterback improve its catching skills by getting plenty of passes in a very short interval of time. Also teaches to throw during the receivers making the pass route cut, making it appropriate for tackle football.
- Set up: The setup for a Pat and go drill is very straightforward, split your team into two groups, having one quarterback in each group along with two receivers.
- Procedure to do the Drill: The quarterbacks touch the football as the sign for their receiver to start their pass route, as the receivers start running on the way, the first receiver in line starts running as the quarterback touches the ball and it throws the ball and receiver catch it. As it catches the ball, the receivers give the ball to the quarterback at the end of the field. The receiver catches the ball and runs towards the fronting quarterback, joining the quarterback’s receivers’ line as you complete placing the ball with the quarterback’s feet.
Ball Drop Drill.
Often, even a team with an abundance of skills, finds difficulty moving the ball forward. No one can deny that acceleration is the name of the game. Most of the breakaways in the NFL rely on bursts of speed that is gained, which generally lasts for 4 to 8 seconds. The ball drop drill is one of the drills for youth football quarterbacks where you become more agile and quick with the ball.
- Motive Behind the Drill: Reaction times and speed and agility are the most underrated attributes of a quarterback. More quick and agile you’re on the game, it can result in better results.
- Set up: Set up for the ball drop drill is very easy, you need one tennis ball, and your coach standing around ten yards depending on the player speed, from the player.
- Procedure to do the Drill: Coach holds the tennis ball in his shoulder-length and drops the ball straight down, while the player bursts forward towards the ball to catch it before it bounces for the second time. The player should be quick with explosion speed and speedier reaction time results in the success of the quarterback.
Dead bugs
The dead bug involves lying on the mat with face up and the arms in the air, your torso, and legs, bending your knees while making an angle of 90 degrees. And when you get in this position, lower your opposite hand and legs slowly in the ground position while the other two opposite one hand and one leg are in the air. Repeat this process, with alternative hands and legs. This seems simple, but you have to completely stabilize through midsection if you want to perform this abs exercise. It’s total core movement which not only helps you work on your abs but also helps you get a better form in your overall game.
This exercise honors the natural body structure, which decreases the chance of injury while you practice.
This means some parts of your body is meant to be mobile like for example, “hips and ankles” while others are intended to be stable like your lumbar spine. And here since you are lying on the ground, and pressing the lower rib cage, you’re engaging the lower muscle of the core and protecting your lower back.
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