There is no more important a position in football than the quarterback, this is true at all levels of the game. The quarterback is arguably the most important player on any sports team. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that you keep your quarterbacks playing to the best of their ability, and you can do this by using drills to improve their skills.

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.

You can make this more challenging by having another player or a coach walking around the player or running at the player and trying to swipe the ball out of his hands. The purpose of this drill is to instill ball control and comfort with handling the ball.

Another basic drill you can use to teach your quarterback is the essential handoff drill. This basic skill is of huge importance but is often overlooked and therefore never learned properly. Stand behind your quarterback as a running back would and have your quarterback practice turning around and hanging you the ball. The ball should be placed firmly into your stomach where your arms are ready to hold it.

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.

When doing this drill, emphasize technique over power. Lead with the elbow, pointing with the wrist so proper kinematics can guide the football, and bringing the ball all the way up to the ear before releasing. This should run 20 to 30 passes, then switching knees. After two weeks of this drill, your players should have developed enough flexibility in the torso that they can do it with both knees down, driving the ball with their core strength.