Late Catch Drill
Setup
All players grab a partner and each set of partners grabs a football for the drill. Players stand five yards downfield and two yards to the side of their partner.
Purpose
Waiting until as late as possible to catch a ball while running a deep route can mean the difference between an incompletion and a touchdown. If the receiver extends his hands too early, it could either tip off the defense to the fact that the ball is coming, and give them time to knock the ball down, or it could slow the receiver down from running his fastest and prevent him from being able to run the ball down before it hits the ground.
This drill ingrains the habit of waiting until the last second to reach out your hands and make the catch.
Drill Description
The player throwing the ball tosses it nice and easy out in front of his partner.
The player catching the ball turns their back to their partner and fires his hands in a running motion while keeping his feet planted. He continues his running motion until as late as possible, before reaching out his hands to catch the ball.
Players should push themselves further and further to get more and more comfortable waiting until as late as possible.
