Drills to Improve Football Player Vision

Athletes should have superior vision on the football field. Excellent vision is crucial for all positions, whether it is for a lineman to pick up a block between players or a running back to observe a hole opening up. It is essential to know what is happening 360 degrees around your vicinity, and to be able to anticipate with great awareness.  On the flip side, having poor vision creates an unsafe football environment. As a coach, the one thing you never want to hear your kid say is ‘I didn’t see him…’.

How does an athlete achieve superior football vision? Hand-eye coordination drills are the best method to sharpen vision.  Practice these 3 drills, at home, to improve your child’s youth football vision. It is best to get competitive with these, so be prepared to square off against your athlete. You’ll come to find it is not as easy as you may think.

Here is a list of drills to improve football player vision:

You will need 4 ping pong balls, 2 plastic cups and a deck of cards for these coordination drills, let’s get started.

Drill 1: A ping pong ball is a key object for hand/eye training. It is ideal because it is a small, air filled, sphere structure that is high bouncing and elusive.  Simply throw the ping pong ball against a wall and catch it. Switch it up. Throw with the left, catch with the right. Now introduce a second ball, first throw with your left, then right. Get faster. The object is to keep the ball from falling.

Drill 2: On a hard floor surface, let a ping pong ball freely bounce and ask your kid to ‘trap’ it using a plastic cup. Alternate hands. Be sure to make your child reach for the ball, on the left and right side of him. Add difficulty to this drill by spinning the ball. 

Here’s a video that shows this drill, credit: Motor Skill Learning:

Drill 3: YFO had the opportunity to interview an NFL legend Ladanian Tomlinson, and he provided a key tip for improving hand/eye coordination in youth football athletes. LT shows us that a deck of playing cards can be an ultimate training tool. Throw a card in the air, one at a time, and make an attempt to catch the card. To get even trickier, have a fan blow the card all over. Practice going through the deck a few times a week, you will begin to notice an improvement.

These drills are ultimately fun challenges that promote family time, while improving your kid’s hand/eye coordination. Tell us about  other drills you use to improve football player vision in the comments below.