5 Best In-Home Football Workouts

5 Best In-Home Football Workouts

If you're reading this right now, you're probably in some sort of quarantine or practicing social distancing because of Corona Virus. And, if you don't know what the Coronas Virus is, you're probably living under a rock which in this case, is going to be okay because that means you're not having social contact with anyone as it is.

However, for those athletes out there and parents of athletes who can't go to the gym, practice with your team or practice with your friends, we've come up with a quick list of 5 exercises you can do from home to keep you getting better at football.

Here are 5 different things you can do from home to help you prepare, practice and get better at football. To perform these exercises, there are a few everyday items that, as an athlete, you will need and can find in your home.

1) A football

2) A pack of tennis balls or any ball you can catch in our hands

3) A pack of playing cards

4) A role of tape

5) A resistance band (any band you can wear around your thighs or ankles will work)

Now that you have your five items, grab a friend or a parent and get started!

Catching Drill

The first drill is super easy and all you're going to need is a football. Whether you play offence or defense, this drill is going to work on your ability to catch the football in its proper area often called the "catch zone".

What you're going to do for this drill, is grip the football as you would when catching it. Meaning, your index fingers are going to be on the white stripes and your thumbs in a similar position on the back of the ball. It's important to note that all of your five finger digits (finger tips) must make contact with the football to complete this exercise properly.

Now, what you want to do for the drill is drop the football but quickly catch it again one hand at a time using your 5 finger digits.

In general, this drill is super easy and something you can do while watching tv or before going to bed. It will practice your finger strength and make catching the ball a natural reflex.

Reaction Time

For the second drill, we will be utilizing the tennis balls mentioned earlier. If you don't have tennis balls, you can also use any other ball as long as you have 2 off them and can catch one of them in one hand.

Similar to the previous drill, this exercise can be used on both offensive and defensive sides, and is going to work on your reaction time.

For this drill, you will need a partner. You're going to start by giving the two balls to your partner who will then raise their hands in the air. Placing yourself at an arms distance from your partner, you will take an athletic position as if you wear playing your sport and put your hands behind your back.

Your partner will then choose what ball to drop, from either their left or right hand and you're going to try to catch the ball before it hits the ground with one of your hands.

Eye-Hand Coordination

For this next drill, you're going to need the deck of cards and once again, this exercise will be good for both your offensive and defensive sides of football.

This drill demands the use of a partner as well. Your partner is going to stand 8-10 feet from you and will toss the cards at you one at a time. Your responsibility is to catch them. The best way to measure your progress is by counting the number of cards you catch each round you do. 

SAQ Ladder

For the next drill, you will need a roll of tape that you should already have in your house. We recommend you use painters tape to mitigate the risk of unwanted glue residue once you remove the tape from the surface you put in on.

We're going to use the tape to mask off the floor and practice some agility drills. If you already have an agility ladder to do the drills in your house, that works perfectly as well. We use tape because most athletes don't have an agility ladder at home or don't have the available space in their house to use the agility ladder.

Using the tape, all you're going to have to make is 1 to 3 squares. Once you have your square, you can work on just about any agility drill you could do using an agility ladder: side hops, alley shuffles, 2-in 2-out, front hops and other variations of 2-in 2-outs.

Banded Walks

For the fifth and final exercise, we're going to do banded walks with the elastic bands. Two of the more popular walks to do are side steps and monster walks, which you can do both backwards and forwards. This is another SAQ exercise that focuses on glute strength and endurance. For each of these exercises, you won't need a lot of room because you can do them while staying in the same area. To make things a little more challenging, you can isolate one leg at a time by doing 10-20 reps on each side.

So that's it! Those are the 5 exercises you can do from home. If you'd like us to add one or if you'd like to share your favorite, please let us know in the comment section below.