I just want to point out at first that there are multiple ways to throw the football, multiple positions, multiple grips, angles, and it all depends on the person. Today, I’m going to tell you how the greats throw the football such as Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Baker Mayfield. As well as how the average person throws a football.
The average person throws with two fingers on the laces. Those two fingers are the ring finger and the pinky finger. The index finger then points towards the top of the ball. It is not on the top of the ball though. You also want to get a great release point. So you hold the ball up towards your ear and throw it forward like a tomahawk. This allows the ball to spin and get more velocity, speed, and make it easier to catch than a ball without the spiral. That is how the average person throws a football.
Tom Brady played for 23 seasons in the NFL throwing the same exact way all those years with the same consistency, he won 7 super bowls out of those 23 years so it is obvious that this type of throw might win you some football games. He played for the New England Patriots and The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady used a throwing grip called “The Baseball Grip” . It gets this name because instead of putting your index finger on one of the laces, Tom Brady puts it at the tip of the ball, like how a pitcher throws a baseball. Brady gets the ball high up to his right ear and throws hard and fast to his receivers. This is what Tom Brady said about his throw.
“Any time you get a good spread on the football, I think there’s two good pressure points, there’s this finger and this finger [the middle and pointer fingers], which are the last two to come off the ball. So when you throw, it’s coming out of your hand, those last two are going to create the spiral. … A lot of the young guys, they have such big hands — and I have pretty big hands too — but their ability to transition the football and flick the football is almost like a baseball. Some of those young guys are spinning the ball so well.” (ESPN)
The two time MVP three time Super Bowl Champion Patrick Mahomes is on the trajectory to being one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. His grip allows and his arm angles allow him to throw while running, throwing against his body, and even throwing while falling. With how Mahomes grips the ball, it is very important to put the index finger closest to the top of the ball. Mahomes’ arm angle is like a pitcher. You want your starting point to be around your chest and make your way up from there while releasing. Lastly, on the release you want to get a flick of wrist to help make the spiral tighter and easier to catch. Here is how Mahomes describes how he throws the ball.
“The index finger is really important, especially if you’re trying to get that spiral. It’s the last thing on the ball. There’s definitely supposed to be a little bit of space between your palm and the ball. I just like to feel the full ball in my hand without any space in between. I started with baseball and I was always very tight when I gripped a baseball, so I don’t know if it transferred from that, but it’s definitely something that I do a little different from everyone else. I also keep a lot of my pinkie on the seam of the ball, more just to stabilize it. The left-handed grip? That for sure is all natural. Never thought about it much. It’s more of just shot-putting the ball to wherever the guy is.” (ESPN)
Lastly, for everyone with small hands like me this one’s for you. Baker Mayfield prefers to put his ring finger on the end of the laces because of his hand size. Baker Mayfield’s grip allows him to get multiple arm angles, he starts his grip from his chest level, his head level, even above his head level, it doesn’t matter to him. This is how Baker Mayfield describes his grip.
“My hands aren’t the biggest, so I go ring finger on the end and my pinkie four down on the laces. There have been people who have tried to get me to change my grip. But nobody’s succeeded.” (ESPN)
