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.
James sent the following question:
I am a 16-year-old quarterback in Australia, and I want to try and get into college in a few years. Do you have any tips or training drills that I could do to improve my skills, arm strength and speed?
Hi James,
It's nice to hear from a player from Down Under. You are fortunate to have an excellent American football organization in Gridiron Australia.
I would suggest that you contact this organization and see if it will be conducting any quarterback camps that you may be able to attend where you could receive specific coaching for the position.
This is the contact information for an individual who can direct you in this area:
Mr. Mel Martin, Director, High Performance Programs
8 Diana Street
Croydon, Victoria 3136
I like to encourage young quarterbacks to spend extra time working on their footwork in setting up and positioning their body to get ready to make the throw. You need to be constant in your set up to position your body correctly, standing tall, both feet under your hips and to have the ball chest high, secured in both hands before you ever start to throw.
Next, you need to work on your actual throwing mechanics. You can practice this without a ball, pushing off your back foot, stepping directly at your target area with your foot opposite your passing hand, leading with chest and hips at the target, taking your passing arm back, helmet high, then coming forward with your passing hand directly to the target, allowing the palm of your passing hand to rotate down and to the outside.
Using your entire body correctly when you throw is what will give you added distance, strength and velocity to your throws.
You can work on all of this part by part, over and over, until your muscle memory allows you to bring them into one fluid movement without much actual thought.
Next, try to find a receiver or receivers that you can work with on a constant basis, setting up practice time where you actually get to throw. Start with your three-step drop, short patterns, then move to your five-step drop, medium and deep pass routes.
Concentrate on accuracy. If you can, have someone keep a record of your completions for each pass route and look to see which routes you need extra work on. Limit the number of deep pass routes until you feel that you have mastered throwing all of the short and medium pass patterns.
Please contact Coach Martin, start practicing on your own and find some fellow players you can work out with on a constant basis so you get to throw live.
Coach Tom Bass
Gen sent the following question:
I'm a junior in high school, and I really want to playfootball in college and maybe one day go to the NFL. I'm a running backat 5-foot-2 and 125 pounds. How can I get bigger and gain more weight?
Hi Gen,
To gain weight you need to consume more calories, and many players do this by adding nutritious snacks to their normal eating pattern at mid-morning, mid-afternoon and just before bed. Often this snack is in the form of a sandwich, nuts, fruit or a protein shake.
Weight is good, but what you really want is strength, and that will come by taking part in a well supervised weight training program combined with a dedicated distance and sprint running program. Often your school track coach can help you set up a running program to meet your needs.
Your final height is something you cannot control, but being in shape, gaining weight, getting bigger and becoming stronger are all things you can work on and control starting right now.
Ask your coaches to help you as you set out to become a better player, and I wish you good luck in working to achieve your goals.
Coach Tom Bass
Jeremiah sent the following question:
I am a high school senior, and I was wondering about college scholarships. If a college offers a guy a scholarship but during the recruiting process he commits to another school, can the college coach pull his scholarship and give it to someone else?
Hi Jeremiah,
It is my understanding that once a player commits to another school, any other school can then withdraw the scholarship offer and then offer it to another player.
My suggestion to you would be to contact the coach directly and see if this is what is going to take place. At the same time, it is important for you to determine if you are one of the players on his short list for a potential scholarship offer.
There is certainly no reason for you to sit and not know where you stand with the coaches at a particular school. I hope everything turns out in a positive way for you, and remember, it is always good to have more than one option on the table.
Coach Tom Bass
The following question was sent:
What's a good off-season workout for a defensive line and offensive line player?
Hi,
Most offensive and defensive line players are all involved in and committed to a serious, well supervised weight training program. That is a necessary start.
In addition, some of the activities that I recommend and encourage O and D linemen to do in the off-season are the following:
Jumping rope - great for balance and developing quick feet, plus easy to do by yourself.
Hand or racquet ball - good for quick change of direction, instant burst, endurance and competition.
Martial Arts - excellent for balance, body control and weight distribution, plus conditioning.
Track and field - any of the weight events, working on balance, quick explosion and a supervised running program.
Distance running - preferably up and down hills where you develop leg strength going up the hill, foot quickness and turnover time coming down, plus increasing general endurance.
The key to any off-season program is to try to incorporate activities that are fun and are ones that you will commit to do on a regularly scheduled basis. Avoid limiting your off-season workouts to just the weight room where you only develop one necessary attribute needed to have success on the O or D line.
Remember, dreaming of success but not being willing to work hard for it will only make you a successful dreamer.
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/.
