The Most Under-Coached Quarterback Mechanic

We covered the first two non-negotiable quarterback mechanics elements in our previous post.

Non-negotiable #3 is...

Stride / Seperation 

BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT AND MOST POORLY COACHED PORTION OF TEACHING MECHANICS

Stepping with lead foot and the separation of the hands happens at the same time and the distance traveled correlates between the two.  The front foot is a short 6 inch step where the QB simply picks up his foot and puts in down, whereas the hands separate from each other and the throwing hand travels horizontally on the chest line and slightly past the back ear. The step is slightly to the left of the target for right-handers and to the right of the target for left-handers.

If a picture was taken in this moment both arms look the same in a horizontal L position that we say is Opposite Equal.

The lower body portion of this phase is the stride.  It is short with the front foot and you are loading up your power on your back foot.  Weight is located on the inside of your back foot at the toes with your heel slightly off the ground.  This is where you are going to create ground-force because unlike pitchers in baseball we don't get to throw off of a mound, therefore we must create out own leverage to push and drive.  This angle of our foot will allow us to turn ground-force into rotational force similar to a hitter in baseball.

It is the rotational force that generates power in the throw without loss of accuracy. The "opposite equal" arm separation, combined with the short step allows the quarterback to rotate around their center of gravity, putting all their force into throwing the ball, instead of using the energy to move their body forward with a longer stride.

Next we bring it home with the proper sequencing.

Don't practice it, Master it!

Paul Troth