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.
Trey sent the following question:
I am a wide receiver in 10th grade. Most people on the team say I have good hands, but on the passes that are coming straight at you, right at or above your chest, I sometimes seem to struggle with the catch. The coaches refer to this as the "diamond" catch because your hands are shaped like a diamond when you put them in front of you. They tell me I should give with the ball more and have softer hands. I know I need to practice making this catch, but I am not sure how to do this. Do you have any tips or drills to help me improve my hands on this catch?
Hi Trey,
Your coaches are correct when they say that you form a diamond - or better yet - a triangle when you make a catch in this position. The end of your thumbs should be touching and forming the bottom third of the triangle and the tips of both first fingers should be touching to form the top upper end of the triangle.
The next part of your hand position is most important. With your thumbs and first fingers touching, you need to cock your hands back so that the palms of your hands are facing straight ahead and not pointing down to the ground.
The palms facing the ground cause most incompletions that come in this area, and when the ball arrives, it naturally hits the palms and goes straight down to the ground.
The other key is that you must reach out in front of you so that you see the ball and your hands at the moment of the catch so that you can let your hands surround the ball as you bring your arms back to your body.
You should have someone throw you the ball in this area over and over until you feel that you can reach out and pluck the tip of the ball right out of the air. You do not need to run, merely line up 15 yards away and have the passer deliver the ball.
Coach Tom Bass
Luigy sent the following question:
I am a high school QB and WR but mostly play WR. What would be a good way to get ready for the NFL so that I can enter the NFL sometime in the future?
Hi Luigy,
The path is simple. 1. Be the best at your position in high school. 2. Take the proper core courses and get good grades in high school that allow you to go to college. 3. Be recruited by and attend a college and be one of the best five or six quarterbacks in the country. 4. Get drafted or signed as a free agent by one of the NFL teams. 5. Survive camp and make the squad, and then when the opportunity comes up, be ready to show that you can play at this level.
The path is not hard to figure out, but it is very hard to achieve. Less than 3 percent of all high school players ever go on to play in college and then less than1 percent of all college players ever have the skill to play in the NFL.
It certainly is not impossible to reach the NFL, but it does require hard work in the classroom and on the practice field. If this is your goal then every decision you make should be the one that keeps you on this path.
Coach Tom Bass
Tyler sent the following question:
I'm a defensive back, and I play high school football. When I line up against a Wing-T offense, I'm on the tight end side with a wingback. Where should I precisely line up and what should my first couple of steps be?
Hi Tyler,
I always had my defensive back on the tight end/wingback side of the formation line up 4 yards outside of the wingback and 5 yards off the line of scrimmage.
I then asked the DB to focus on the tight end/wingback combination. If both of them blocked on the snap then we had the DB attack the line of scrimmage and aim for a spot 2 yards across the line and 3 yards outside the next defensive player to the inside.
From this spot, we asked the DB to take on any blocker with his inside shoulder and forearm, keeping his outside leg and arm free from the blocker. We wanted the DB to turn the ball carrier back to the inside to the other defensive players. At the same time, we wanted the DB to use his free arm and leg to react to the outside if the ball carrier decided to give ground and to go run to the sideline.
If either the tight end or the wingback released off the line on the snap and started downfield, we asked the DB to drop into the pass coverage called in the huddle.
The Wing-T is mostly a running formation and it is easy to be drawn into thinking that every play is a run so that you are not prepared for a pass, especially a play-action pass. Because of this threat, it is important that you focus on both potential offensive receivers.
Most defensive backs playing in this position get themselves into trouble when they look into the backfield and get confused with all the backfield faking. Let the TE and WB tell you if it is pass or run and if you should come up or start back.
Coach Tom Bass
Mark sent the following question:
I'm a 17-year-old linebacker. We played with four defensive linemen and four linebackers, with the "spike" linebacker being the strong safety, but playing 3 yards off the LOS while the other linebackers play 5 yards off. Is this a 46 Defense? I am playing Sam LB, so in this formation, what reads would I have to make in Cover 1 and Cover 3 and in which order? I found this pretty confusing to do in a defense I've never played in before.
Hi Mark,
It does not sound like you are playing a true 46 defense.
In regards to your reads, there are a couple of things to consider. First, if you are playing Cover 1, a man-to-man pass defense, then your key should always be the man you have in coverage. You need to let him take you wherever he is going, if it is carrying the ball, serving as a lead blocker or going out on a pass route.
On Cover 3, a three-deep zone pass defense, you can read the triangle of the three nearest offensive men on the line of scrimmage. When you have an uncovered offensive player directly in front of you, he needs to be your first read, the next player to your outside the second read and the first player to the inside your third read. You think in terms of identifying the man blocking you, understand the block he is using, defeat the block and then find the ball carrier.
When the players drop back off the line to pass protect, you should drop back into your assigned Cover 3 zone.
In both Cover 1 and Cover 3, it is important that you know where to be and then react the instant you determine where the play is going.
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/.
