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Coach Tom Bass brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to USA Football. Along with answering youth coaching questions, he also receives emails from young players. You can email the coach at NFLAskTheCoach@aol.com.

Nelson sent the following question:

Hi Nelson,

The first thing you need to do is to make certain that you know where the ball carrier will be running the ball on every running play. Once you can picture in your mind where the ball carrier will be on each play, then you can begin to think about how you are going to position yourself so that the defensive player has to go through you to reach the ball carrier.

Always come off the line as fast as you can so that initially the defensive back thinks you are running a pass pattern. Then begin a pattern that will put you in position to be in between the defensive player and the path of the ball carrier.

You might start a slant and then turn out to face the defensive player.
At this point you want to shorten your stride, bring both feet under your hips shoulder width apart, bend at your knees and bring both hands up to the center of your chest with the palms facing forward.

Shuffle your feet so that you stay in front of the defensive player. When he gets close enough, lower your hips and explode up and through his numbers by striking out with both hands. Immediately reset back into your position and prepare to make the same motion again and again until the whistle blows.

The key is to never lunge at the defensive player but to position yourself so that he must come through you to reach the ball carrier.

Coach Tom Bass

Christopher sent the following question:

I am a pretty big guy - about 250 pounds, but I amnot sluggish and do not get tired easily. Next year I want to play quarterback for my freshman high school football team. I also run track and play basketball. I can throw well, but a lot of people say that a big guy can't play QB. How can I become a high school quarterback?

Hi Christopher,

There are enough big players lining up and taking snaps at quarterback that size is much less of a concern than it might have been in previous times. What coaches are looking for when they select a quarterback is leadership, competitiveness, accuracy in passing and the ability to run the ball and move around and avoid a rush.

Your challenge is to convince the coaching staff that you are a player who can deliver in all these areas, that you are willing to compete for the job and that all you want is a chance to prove that you have the ability to lead the offense.

I would start by asking to meet with freshman coach and tell him what you want to accomplish. Ask him what you can do right now to reach your goal, listen and write down what he tells you to do and then do it. Try to see as many freshman games as you can this year so you get a feel for the offense.

See if the high school has a summer program that you can participate in and look into any QB camps that you might attend. With basketball and track, you should be in shape if you work hard next summer.

Playing QB is much more than throwing the ball, so start right now developing good study habits so that you can be organized next year and have time for both your classroom work and studying your offense away from school.

Coach Tom Bass

Alex sent the following question:

I am an eighth grade QB. As part of our offense, we have a formation called the "Wolverine". We have five down lineman and no running backs. On the right side of the ball, we have trips wide receivers about 10 yards to the side. On the other side, we have one receiver in the slot and one receiver out wide on the line. I am constantly getting sacked, and I was wondering if you could give me any advice on how to get more time in the pocket to allow my receivers to get open?

Hi Alex,

Hopefully you are running this formation from a shotgun location that puts you 4 yards off the line of scrimmage when you receive the snap and gives you more time to throw the ball. If you are taking a direct snap, it will be a good idea to work on speeding up your footwork for your drop, your set and your throw.

Talk to your coaches and see if they can have one of the two inside receivers run a short route like a slant or a shallow crossing route and then when you see that your opponent has more men up to rush than your linemen can block, get the ball to one of these two receivers right away.

Another route would be a flash screen to the middle receiver on the trips side of the formation where the receiver steps back away from the line and you can raise up and immediately throw the ball. Make sure everyone knows this can be a lateral if you are taking a direct snap from center and must be covered.

One other thing you might suggest is to have a sprint out pass where you can move to the outside to throw away from the rush. For this type of pass, the tackle and guard on the side of your movement can fire out and hook the defensive player in front of them giving you the time to get outside to throw.

This type of pass will narrow your passing area to half of the field - the side you sprint out to - but you should have more time to throw. Remember anytime you are throwing on the run you need to get your body turned up the field, step right at the receiver with your front foot and allow your body to move over that foot as your arm comes forward to make the throw.

Talk to the coaches about these ideas and hopefully you can get some completions and avoid being sacked. Before the snap, try to know in your mind which receiver you are going to throw to and then get the ball out of your hand as quickly as possible.

Coach Tom Bass

John sent the following question:

I am a ninth grader, and I would like to play football next year on the junior varsity team. But I can never get any practice time because no one wants to play with me. I run uphill and catch either my own or my 9-year-old neighbor's passes. I would like to get a passing machine but they're too expensive. Do you have any alternative to the Juggs machine or any other drills to get me conditioned for next year?

Hi John,

First of all try to find a player at school who is your age that wants to be a quarterback and see if you two can hook up to practice a couple of times a week. You can focus on running the routes and catching correctly, and he can focus on setting up and passing properly.

Another drill that you can do by yourself is to find a nice flat wall and throw a tennis ball so that it bounces back to you at different heights. Practice having your hands out in front of you and see the ball all the way into your hands. Make sure your have your little fingers together with your palms up for passes below your chest and your thumbs together with your wrist cocked back for all balls chest high or above.

You can increase the velocity of your throws with this drill as you begin to make every catch. Catching a big football after practicing with a tennis ball will seem much easier.

Keep up your running program so that you are in top shape for next season.

Coach Tom Bass

Chris sent the following question:

I am a secondary middle linebacker for my high school team, and I don't get much playing time because when we practice I just don't do that well. But when it comes to game time, I do better than usual. I have no clue if it is our offensive line or if I just am not trying hard enough during practice. Is there any way I can do better during practice so that my coaches see that I can play?

Hi Chris,

Your offensive line may be very good and if they are that may contribute to your lack of production in practice. Many players do not realize the importance of practice and consequently merely go through a majority of practice at half or three-quarter speed. They don't mean to practice this way, but they don't bring the same determination to the practice field as they do to a game.

Learning how to practice is a challenge, but you can get better if you force yourself to go 100 percent on each and every drill and play. Concentrate on listening to the coaches and then make a mental note to do what they are teaching you to do while working as hard as you can.

When you are running drills, make certain that you are in the front of the line. This gets you prepared for any team drills that you may have later in the practice. In your mind, try to make each practice a mini-game.

At the end of each practice, sit down and ask yourself two questions. "Did I practice as hard as I can today?" and "Am I a better player leaving the field as I was when I went out today to start practice?"

When you are able to truthfully answer "yes" to both of these questions, then you will be on the way to knowing how to practice and to becoming a much better football player.

Coach Tom Bass

Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found on http://www.coachbass.com/.