The Basics

Dear Snappers,

Now is the best time of the year to work on your long snapping skills! With the off-season in full swing there are plenty of camps all around the U.S. to provide you with coaches that have a lot of knowledge on long snapping. (Feel free to hit me up if you want to snap in Iowa) A lot of those camps charge high prices and might require a lot of travel, but they do have good information.

If you know me, you know that everything that I have accomplished in long snapping has been without attending camps. I know that you can be a five-star long snapper simply by working hard and pushing yourself to be better every day.

This week's blog post is focused on the tips and tricks that can take an ordinary football player and turn him or her into an incredible long snapper. The biggest thing that I want you all to remember is that these tips and tricks don't work if you aren't consistently trying to build up your skills.

Set it up

As I have battled and competed with some of the best snappers, I have found that a wide stance can be a snappers best friend. Make sure to keep your toes pointed straight in your stance. When you bend down to address the ball, make sure to keep a comfortable and balanced stance. You should be able to reach the ball without putting pressure on it to keep your balance.

I like to place my heels about a year away from where the ball lies. When I was refining my skills in high school, my coach told me that he was told to keep the ball closer to his body in order to reduce the time it took to get to the punter or holder. A few inches closer or farther away probably won't make your snap any slow or faster. Don't let your distance throw off your snap, just find a comfortable position. I often play around with how far away I put my feet from the ball, so don't be afraid to experiment to find what works for you.

Grip it

DOMINANT HAND

I am a right handed snapper and I have never had to teach someone how to snap left handed. However, I played with Tanner Morgan, a great left handed snapper at Oklahoma State and Northern Iowa (No. 8 ranked Kohl's Snapper), but I've never done it myself. The techniques should still be the similar, just flipped to your dominant hand.

My dominant hand is placed in the same manner as if I was throwing the ball overhead. My middle finger is set slightly above the laces and my ring and pinky fingers are spaced evenly along the laces.

GUIDE HAND

The other hand, or the guide hand, is positioned on the opposite side of the ball. Personally, I form a nice two-fingered "L" with my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. Place your other two fingers evenly and comfortably on the ball. My pointer and middle fingers are together as if I was making a little finger gun. The middle finger runs along the seam of the ball to give me a confident grip on the ball.

In my opinion, a guide hand is not simply there to guide, like you might hear in basketball. When it comes to snapping, it is a useful tool that helps add spin and torque to your snaps. If you move your guide hand up and down on the ball you will feel different effects on the height of your snaps. I have found that the lower I place my guide hand, the lower my snaps will go. If I feel like I am throwing at the punters head or shoulders, I will adjust my guide hand slightly lower on the ball.

Rip it

Something that you will hear from the greatest long snappers is that you have to learn to whip the ball. To be a great long snapper you have to get away from muscling the ball and learn to use your wrists, elbows, back, and hips all in a continuous motion to whip the ball back there.

Some snapping coaches will teach you to fully extend your legs and drive your feet back slightly when you snap the ball, but there are pros and cons to that. I extend my legs and drive my feet, but I have never had to worry about blocking in any punt scheme that I have been involved in.

If you are looking to block on punts, then it gives you an advantage to avoid fully extending your knees in order to stay in a good athletic position. Consider the scheme your teams runs and try to master the technique that feels comfortable for you. Keep in mind that most young, amateur snappers will fully extend their legs; while NFL type snappers look to stay in an athletic position.

FIRE IT BACK THERE

The guidance in this blog is just the bare bones basics to long snapping to get some of you started! Keep an eye out for more blog posts. We will be going over a whole lot more tips and tricks to the craft.

Make sure to give me that follow on Twitter! Make sure to stop back every week to check out everything you need to know about long snapping!

stop back every week to check out everything you need to know about long snapping!!!!!