In all levels of the sport, the quarterback is the most important player on the team. His ability to lead the team, play under pressure and perform capably in all situations will decide the fate of a team, raising mediocre squads to great ones or in some situations, bringing down very good teams to average ones. Teaching your quarterbacks the fundamentals will help your entire team improve.

Basic quarterback drills are always important, but there especially important at a young age. This is when habits are formed and basic skills are remembered for the long haul as hardened techniques.

The first is ball handling. Have your passer take a football in his hand, and move it in a circle over his head; the goal here is to build muscle memory for how the football moves with your player’s body. Have him move it around his shoulders, around his back, and between his knees and legs. Have an assistant watch the quarterback and call for change ups, to simulate the trick of keeping ahold of the ball when circumstances change, like when a defender is rushing straight at him.

A variation on this drill is to have the quarterback do this, while calling out a cadence countand while someone is walking behind them trying to randomly tip the ball out of their hands. This is all about ball control and keeping awareness of your body in space.

Another useful drill is the handoff drill. Each quarterback holds a ball and an assistant coach stands behind them, down low, where a running back would normally be. The objective is to have the quarterback act as if they’ve just received the snap, and then do the hand off to the coach. The ideal form is to put the ball between the coach’s arm, right around his gut.

Moving from the handoff you can then practice more difficult hand offs and tosses, such as reverses, sweeps and pitches. These are harder and take more time to learn, but it’s all about getting the practice in. Be sure to do each movement a sufficient amount of times, as your quarterback will need solid reps in to build that muscle memory and mental aptitude to be able to confidently perform each move when it’s game time.

Another great drill for your quarterbacks will help improve their core body strength and flexibility, while teaching throwing mechanics and form. You can have two of your quarterbacks work on this together, or you can have a quarterback work with a coach. Facing each other at a distance of about ten yards, each player is on one knee with a ball at their opposite foot. The player has to pick up the ball and complete a full throwing motion to accurately complete a pass to the other player.

After completing maybe 20 passes each, the players then switch the knees they were on and do it again. Having to throw without the use of their legs and hips will build core strength and stamina. After several practices doing this drill, have the quarterbacks perform it with both knees on the ground. The goal is to maintain solid form and be accurate with all of your throws.