Starting Position of the Ball

Feedback cue:

• Whenever executing the pass skill ensure movement always begins in the optimal zone.

The aim of the athlete before beginning any throwing motion is to ensure both hands are on the ball within the optimal zone. Sports scientists label this zone as; ‘no higher than the clavicle, no closer to the body than the sternum, no further back than the armpit and no lower than the bottom of the chest. This is important because it helps to reduce the required displacement and time required to bring the ball from this ready position up into the first movement of the sequence. A good example of this effect is Tim Tebow’ s old throwing technique for which he was heavily criticized and he underwent training as a result and improved his technique.

Video Courtesy of : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AsbCFNauAw

Some footballers bring the arm far out behind their body and Tebow is a great example of this, he brings his arm all the way out and stretches down as explained in the video above. Whilst  this creates a longer lever and thus greater moment of inertia since the arm bends when it comes back up for the throwing motion most of this inertia is wasted just bringing the arm back up from behind the body. (Blazevich, 2013, p. 72) The quarterback needs to bring the ball up quickly not only because of the time constraints placed on him via an opposition but it is also important to flow through the entire skill without losing any velocity and momentum to ensure maximum transfer to the projectile.