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Monday, September 1, 2008
Keys to Catching the Football
Western Arkansas, AR
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By: Anthony Lucas
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Photo(s) By: courtesy of UA Sports Information
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Catching the football can be very difficult if you allow it to be, but when you care about it, work at it and take pride in being a great wide receiver in catching the ball; everything else will take care of itself.
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When I think about catching the football, three things come to mind. No. 1) See the ball hit your hands. No. 2) Forming the diamond shape with your nose, eyes, and chin on the football. No. 3) Catch the first 8 to 10 inches of the ball, controlling the tip and look the ball all the way into the tuck.
When catching the football, you have to care about it. If you don’t care about it, you won’t get the job done. Wide Receivers like to take the ball for granted sometimes, but you have to make sure you secure the catch.
Over the years, I developed the attitude that no matter who is in my way, or what is going on in the stands, when the ball is in the air my eyes and attention are focused on making a great catch and making the PLAY!!!
When the ball is thrown to me, I like to focus on the tip of the ball making sure that I am not fighting against the ball with my hands. A lot of young guys like to use their palms and chest to catch the ball, but you should catch the ball in your fingertips controlling the tip of the ball with the diamond shape of your hands. If the ball is thrown from your mid-thigh up, you want to catch the football like that, however, when it is thrown from your mid-thigh down, your pinky fingers should go together. If the ball hits your palms, chest or crosses the plain of your eyes, 90 percent of the time you will drop the football.
Second, control the tip and the first 8 to 10 inches of the ball and your percentage of catches will increase. If you don’t control the tip, you will catch the mid or the fat part of the football. This tends to happen a lot and also causes more drops.
Last, the most critical thing in catching the football is securing the catch, looking it all the way into the tuck. If you do not look the ball all the way into the tuck, 98 percent of the balls thrown to you will end up as drop. This is very important, because a lot of young and professional guys do this. Coaches are really strict about this because if you get off the line of scrimmage, run a great route and don’t secure the catch, everything else really does not matter.
Catching the football can be very difficult if you allow it to be, but when you care about it, work at it and take pride in being a great wide receiver in catching the ball; everything else will take care of itself. I would like to encourage all up-and-coming wide receivers to watch film and study your position and practice on all of the techniques that I talked about, and I guarantee you that you will be very successful in catching the football.
Remember, see the ball hit your hands forming the diamond shape with your nose, eyes, and chin on the football, catch the first 8 to 10 inches of the ball controlling the tip and look the ball all the way into the tuck. Never say you can’t, always know you can.
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Anthony Lucas played at the University of Arkansas from 1995 to ’99, becoming UA’s all-time leading receiver and ranking No. 8 in yardage on the SEC’s all-time list. Lucas also leads the SEC all-time with a 21-yard per catch average, and he earned all-American honors as a senior in 1999. Lucas now lives in Little Rock where he is the Executive Director of Life Champs Youth Sports. He also teams with former UA receiver J.J. Meadors to teach young receivers at the Elite Wide Receiver Academy.
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