The Center Station Drill

OBJECTIVE

This drill is designed to teach the player how to play the center position.   

POINTS OF EMPHASIS

• • Player assumes a basic 3-point stance with the ball out in front of his head so that he has to reach for it. When in the proper position to center the ball, the ball will be near the center's right ear. When in the proper position the center should try to have a flat/horizontal back. (see photo below).  It may be necessary for the center to adjust the bend in his knees and his butt height to achieve a horizontal back..

  • For young players (Division 1), the ball will be positioned parallel to the line of scrimmage so the center will not have to rotate the ball 90 degrees during the snap.  For older players the ball will be perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and the laces will be up. The center may use one ore two hands when making the exchange. Again younger players should  use two hands. 

  • The first portion of this drill will be done without a quarterback. The center snaps the ball up to his butt to a position as far back as he can reach and still have the ball on his butt. He will snap the ball and hold the ball in that position for the coach to see. 

  • During this process the center should have his head up and his eyes looking straight ahead.

  • During the next portion of the drill the coach will act as the quarterback and check to ensure the center snaps the ball far enough back into the V of the quarterback's hands. The coach will also check to see that the center snaps the ball hard and fast.

  • Center should be encouraged to slightly anticipated the snap count by shaping the ball on the Hu sound of the snap count number instead of waiting to hear the entire Hut One count. 

SETUP

Note: in the photo, the top player has his back flat while the player to the right needs to raise his butt up in order to have his back flat. 

EXECUTION

• 1. This drill can be done with a number of players at the same time with a single coach in charge of the drill.

EXAMPLE 

SKILL PROGRESSION MATRIX

DRILL PARAMETERS

EQUIPMENT

1 Football

2 Cones

COMMENTS