Throwing Question

Question
Hey, well my question is when im throwing a longer than average pass, my backfoot steps forward while transfering my weight to my front leg, is this normal or should i correct it.  Another question is when i throw a spiral, sometimes it isnt a direct spiral , it "curves" or spirals as the football is a little to the side on the way there, is that normal or am i throwing the football wrong. thanks coach.

Answer
Campbell -

Good questions!  Ok, first one first.  There is no problem with your back leg coming through on the pass.  Your weight shift will cause that to happen.  Just make sure it doesn't happen too early.   The leg should come through after the arm passes across your body on the follow through.  If it is coming through earlier than that, correct it.  If it doesnt move at all, stays back and just rotates onto your tip toe thats ok too!  Only when it comes through too early will it effect you in a negative way.

Now as for the spiral.  The term used is called a "tight" spiral.  Thats when the ball has no "wobble" to it, and the nose and ends of the ball stay even with one another.  The fact is that no matter how good you are, you are never going to throw a tight spiral on every play.  There are many factors to this:  weather / wind, grip on ball (your hands grip) the balls grip (sticky, wet, warn out), throwing style, etc.. All of these contribute to how tight your spiral is, and how often you throw a tight spiral.  But everyone throws "ducks" here and there, so dont sweat it when you do.  Again, look at a pro game.  You will be amazed to see that over 50% of pro QBs throws ARE NOT tight spirals, having some type of "wobble" to them.  The most important thing is that you are accurate with the ball, not how the ball looks getting there.  A tight spiral will make it a little more accurate by cutting through the air better, but isnt necessary in getting the job done.

Hope that helps you out buddy!  Good luck and keep working on it!

Coach Perl