There are few guarantees in life. And “you will catch this football” is a risky bet. But if you are a youth flag football or youth tackle football player, these football skill development tips are as close as it gets to guaranteed improvement.

HOW TO CATCH MORE FOOTBALLS: A HOME REMEDY
You have to train your hands and eyes to work together. It’s like taking a picture with a cell phone. Your eyes need to be behind the camera so you can see the picture you want to take.

Wherever your hands go, your eyes must go. Your eyes should always be behind the “camera.” To catch the ball, your hands are usually in the same position as when holding a cell phone.

Use lacrosse balls or tennis balls, but catch them like a football with two hands. This trains your hands to stay together and forces you to look the ball into the hands – the whole way! It also teaches you to have “soft hands” that have some give when catching a much harder passes.

Bounce a tennis ball off the garage door at angles – forcing you to move your feet, bend and stretch. This will teach you to run on your toes so your eyes remain steady. Great side receivers and center fielders can do this very well.

With a friend, stand 12 feet apart and, using a tennis ball and a football, throw passes back and forth. Attempt to set a record of consecutive catches. Create challenges like “your feet must remain planted.” This will improve your football pass throwing and football catching dramatically.

Also, turn your back to the “thrower.” The thrower says “ready” and simultaneously throws a pass towards you. You must quickly turn around, track the ball with your eyes and catch it.

There are no short cuts – but this is an easy and almost guaranteed way to improve your catching skills.