Watch the instant replay when a fumble occurs. The point of the ball is not in the palm of the hand of the ball carrier. To teach yourself or someone else how to protect the football, follow the basic rule of learning something physical and then control the point of the football.

One rule applies to all of the physical motions you will be using in sports - The Rule of Reinforcing Memories! Just as skiers on the hillside tend to go over the trails of skiers before them - deepening those same trails in the snow - pathways can be formed in your brain also. It's the way you were created. The more frequently you recall a concept or repeat a motion, the more likely it will become a permanently fixed thought form or action pattern.

When you go through the physical motions in this book, start out very slowly (very slowly), repeating and repeating the actions. Gradually increase the speed of the movements. Eventually those motions will be so chemically strengthened in the neural pathways of your brain it will become a weighted memory that you act out automatically. Physically you will do the right thing to catch the ball every time - IF you train your brain and muscles to move the right way each time as you practice, starting out slowly.

POINT OF BALL IN PALM

You probably never heard this phrase before: "point of ball in palm of hand". I rarely see ball carriers using this rule when being hit, and yet it gives you the most control and protection of the ball. In open field running you cradle the ball along your forearm, one point of ball under the bicep and the other point of the ball covered by first two fingers spread over the tip (or forefinger tip on point of ball). Of course, you know that when you are about to be tackled you put the ball on the side of your body, away from the tackler to protect the ball. When you do that, practice putting the point of the ball in the palm of your hand not just covered by your spread fingers, and the other point fully under the bicep. Credit goes to Coach Jim Garrett for this rule. I have never seen a player fumble when tackled if he had the point of the ball in the palm of his hand.

Putting the point of the ball in the palm of the hand slows you down from fast open field running really slows you down. BUT I guarantee you this, you will not fumble the ball going through a lot of tacklers. Try running with and without the point of the ball in palm of your hand, and you'll see the difference. Next, run through the impact machines at school with the point of the ball in the palm, and notice how well it stays there. In the open filed with no tacklers near you, you don't want the point in your palm because is slows you. However, when you are about to be hit, you won't fumble with the point in the palm.

Learn more about this author, Ed Leonard.
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