SS-Cheong Becoming a better football player takes more than a love for the game, but also a dedication to becoming better. When your f...
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| SS-Cheong |
Becoming a better football player takes more than a love for the game, but also a dedication to becoming better. When your focus is correct, developing and refining skills has the ability to be achieved.
Instructions
Formulate a routine. Taking some time to simply organize when you will do things will help give you focus. Set time aside for training and other football associated activities.
Make a workout plan that will help develop the physical attributes desired in football. To design a more effective workout, be sure to have exercises that will develop your body according to a specific position you are interested in. Weight training can be a good way to build strength.
Study and retain everything you can. Technologies such as watching film are helpful and learning your position and plays, as well as studying tactics to use against your opposing position is resourceful. Retain as much of this information as possible even though it may feel like you are doing a homework assignment, it will help you to understand what you are doing and react quicker on the field.
Practice in three speeds. Everyone has heard the saying that, "practice makes perfect", but knowing how to do it is essential. One approach is to perform an activity in three speeds, low, medium and high. Start out doing the action slows until you become increasingly comfortable and then increase the speed levels subsequently.
Work on your coordination. Football is a game of superior coordination, and developing your skills further will require you to do some popular coordination activities that are football related. Doing these activities will help you to become more agile and to perform tasks smoother on the gridiron.
Get a coach or workout partner. This will help when timing yourself for speed or quantity in exercises. You can also use someone else to keep you on task and for motivation. This system can allow another person to see what you can improve on and give you honest feed back through an objective stand point.
Each position on a football team requires specific skills. For example, speed, agility and balance are an asset to receivers, while strength and quick feet are needed to play the interior line positions. This means that there are many skills needed to play football, but a player does not necessarily have to possess all of these skills to be successful.
Speed
At the higher levels of football, speed is an important skill that cannot be overlooked. In the college and pro games, the receivers, running backs and defensive backs all can run much quicker than anyone on the field in most cases. An average 40 yard dash time for most of these players lies between 4.3 and 4.6 seconds. Professional players will work out for teams at something called a combine, where they will be timed for this distance so that scouts can make judgments and project what they will be able to do in the NFL. Other position players with great speed will have an advantage, especially if it is a position not normally associated with speed, such as quarterback or defensive end. Speed at what football coaches term the skill positions--quarterback, running back and receiver--is a highly prized commodity. Speed enables players to outrun tacklers and turn what should be a small gain into a long one. Defensive backs need speed as well to be able to cover receivers.
Balance
Running backs and receivers in particular need to have excellent balance, as would-be tacklers are constantly trying to get them off their feet. A quarterback with excellent balance is much harder to sack for a loss, as he will have a knack for staying on his feet and keeping a play alive.
Agility
Receivers need to be agile as they have to leap in the air for the football and then come back down with their feet inbounds. Running backs with agility can be elusive enough to make tacklers miss.
Strength
Upper and lower body strength is a must for lineman who must battle each other. Strength is an important skill that all linemen must have to be able to block, tackle and rush the passer.
Quickness
Quickness allows a defensive end to get by a blocker and harass the quarterback. It also enables receivers to get open, and helps running backs react in a split second to decide where to run to.
Accuracy
Both passers and kickers need to be accurate in throwing and kicking the football. This requires a combination of hand-eye coordination and arm or leg strength.
Toughness
Football players take a physically punishing pounding throughout the game. Toughness is absolutely needed no matter what the position.
Looking back at some of the greatest players ever to play the game, one can pinpoint the specific skill that made them stand out above all others. Gale Sayers, the great Chicago Bears' running back and Detroit Lions' phenomena Barry Sanders were the most elusive running backs ever, a skill that few players have. Quarterbacks Joe Namath and Terry Bradshaw had unbelievable arm strength to deliver passes. New York Giant Lawrence Taylor brought speed to the linebacker position that had never been seen and revolutionized the game. Jerry Rice of the 49ers brought amazing discipline to the wide receiver position that enabled him to run perfect pass patterns and set touchdown records for receivers. Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys brought a mental toughness and never-say-die attitude that rubbed off on his teammates. Reggie White of the Eagles and Packers possessed strength that made him almost untouchable. One of the greatest football players ever, Jim Brown, combined nearly all of these attributes to become an unstoppable force for the Cleveland Browns.
Nikola Davidovic
Sources: NFL, eHow, Wikipedia
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