Take a Snap in Football

Every play on the American football field begins with the most overlooked motion on the football field: the snap. As any quarterback will tell you, getting the snap is all but automatic. If you want to play quarterback, it is important you can consistently get the snap.

Steps

  1. Place your hands together, with the bottom of your palms touching each other. you should use considerable pressure when pushing your palms together.
  2. Choose your top hand. This should be your throwing hand.
  3. Move your thumbs together so your thumb knuckles are touching. Now, move your top thumb down so that the top part of your thumb (with one with the fingernail on it) is between the two knuckles on your bottom thumb. This is to help get your hands closer together, and helps a lot in getting the snap.
  4. Hold your hands in this position (it should look a little like an open clam on its side) while placing them under the center's butt. Your top hand should be positioned pretty far underneath the center, but not too far. You should find a position you and your center feel most comfortable with. Bending your knees also helps to get the snap.
  5. Spread your hands apart while maintaining contact at the bottom of your palms and at your thumbs (as explained in step 3).
  6. Push up firmly with your 'bottom hand' while making sure your hands are still spread enough to get the ball. Making sure to push up with your bottom hand and not your top hand is the most important part of getting the snap.
  7. Call out your snap count loudly and clearly, and be ready to get the snap on the 'h' of your final 'hut'.
  8. OR you can put your palms together( don't leave space between them or it might bounce off or go through your hands)
  9. Put a good amount of pressure by the tip of the center's cup so he knows where your hands are

In the Shotgun

  1. Have the tips of your thumbs together.
  2. Know where the blitz is coming from but not by taking your eyes off the ball, because the center might get confused and snap the ball. If this happens and your eyes are on the blitz then it's an accident waiting to happen.
  3. On the snap, get the ball but keeping that hand position.

Tips

  • Communicate with your center. If you and your center don't tell each other what you need, it will be hard--if not impossible--to get a good snap consistently.
  • If it is wet outside, you can have your center hang a towel from the back of his belt. This way you can dry your hands before taking the snap.
  • If you're still having trouble with the snap, re-check your mechanics. Make sure your knees are bent, that you're pushing up with your bottom hand, and that your throwing hand on top. Also make sure that while your thumbs and bottoms of your hands are connected, your fingers and top parts of your hands are spread far enough apart to grab the ball. A common problem among inexperienced quarterbacks is allowing for the "clam" shape of their hands to close while pushing up with the bottom hand.
  • Also make sure that your hands are far in, otherwise the ball will bounce off your fingertips and you will fumble the ball.
  • You can make your hands stickier to get the snap in a variety of different ways. Licking them a little and rubbing them together works, as does rubbing them with sweat. If you have a cut (probably inevitable by a certain point) you could even rub a little blood between your hands. It should be noted that you should let your hands dry a little bit before taking the snap, because soaked hands do you no good.
  • Watch the blitz and the ball coming toward you from the center to make sure you get the ball.

Warnings

  • Never purposely make yourself bleed in order to make your hands stickier.
  • If the ball hits your other hand,your snap hands are wrong and you might fumble the football.
  • Try not to go for a high snap when you are close to your own endzone. If you miss, it will become a safety.

Related Articles

You may like

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Take_a_Snap_in_Football&oldid=325118"