QB Drills You Can Do at Home

What You Need

Tape or sidewalk chalk, a football (and a foam ball for inside), something to throw at, and a phone. A net or an old tire hung from a tree or frame makes target work much better.

Footwork

Footwork needs the least space, so do it every day.

Drop Drill on a Line

1. Setup

   A straight line of tape or chalk, 7 or 8 yards long. Start at one end with the ball at your chest.

2. Rep

   Take your offense's drops along the line from the gun. At the top, hitch and set as if throwing. Ten of each drop.

3. Coaching Points

   Drifting off the line means your drop is crooked. The last step should stop you. Ball high in both hands, eyes up and off your feet.

Pocket Box

1. Setup

   Mark a box about 3 yards wide and 3 deep behind your drop line.

2. Rep

   Drop into the box, then move inside it: slide left two steps, step up, slide right, reset your feet to a spot in the distance and set. Twenty to thirty seconds per rep, five reps.

3. Coaching Points

   Each time you stop, point your front foot at a new target.

Mirror Check

Film your drops from the side and from behind. In slow motion, look for a straight drop, the ball at your chest, and a balanced base at the top: feet about shoulder width, weight on the balls of the feet, knees slightly bent.

Throwing Alone

Count your hits and write them down.

• Ceiling spirals: lying on your back, throw the ball a few feet straight up, 20 to 30 times. It should leave your index finger in a tight spiral and drop straight back. Drift means your release pushes it sideways.
• Towel drill: grip a hand towel by one end like the ball and go through your motion. The towel should snap forward at the end, which trains a high elbow and a full follow-through.
• Net or tire targets: five throws each from 5, 10 and 15 yards, aimed at one part of the target.
• Wall inside: a foam or soft football and a square of tape at chest height, for short throws focused on the release.

Drop and Throw to a Target

1. Setup

   Drop line plus a net or tire 10 to 12 yards away.

2. Rep

   Drop, hitch and throw on rhythm. Ten reps, then move the target left, then right, so you throw at an angle.

3. Coaching Points

   Reset your feet to the target before you throw. Most misses at an angle come from feet still pointing straight ahead.

Mental Reps

Team reps at practice are limited, and fewer still come against the coverage giving you trouble. At home, the only limit is your time.

Film of Your Own Games

Your own film is best, because you know the play call. Pause each pass play at the snap and say the coverage out loud (safeties, corners, man or zone) and where the ball should go. Then play it and check.

Without your own film, use broadcast games where the camera shows the safeties. You will not always know the play, but you can still call the shell and watch the rotation.

Playbook Study

Draw your plays from memory. For each pass play, write the defender you read against one high and two high, the hot throw and the checkdown. A read you cannot write down is a read you will not see on the field.

Walkthroughs on Air

In the yard, call a play and a coverage, take your drop and say each read as you make it: first read at the top, second on the hitch. Then throw to a spot. It feels silly, and it builds the feet-and-eyes timing you need under pressure.

Quizzes and Simulator Reps

Our Football IQ test, Guess the Coverage and the QB reads quiz each show a diagram and ask for the answer, and they are short enough to do every day.

Crucible, an iPhone and Android app with no headset, puts you in the shotgun against a real coverage: take the snap, read it, make the throw, then see what you missed. You can rep one concept against several coverages in a few minutes.

A Week of Home Work

1. Every Day (10 Minutes)

   Drop drill and pocket box. Ten minutes of mental reps: a quiz, simulator reps or a few film clips.

2. Two or Three Days (20 Minutes)

   Ceiling spirals, then drop and throw to a target. Skip it on days you threw a lot at practice.

3. Once a Week (30 Minutes)

   Pause-and-call film of your last game, and playbook study for the next one.