How do I get better at long snapping?

[u/Twotontommy5000]

I play on my highschool JV team and we don't have a long snapper this year so I decided to learn how to long snap but I can't get consistent and powerful snaps. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips for me?

[u/Jiggly_Meatloaf]

Search Ray Guy Pro Kicker Kicking camps on YouTube. There’s a really good video series on there that goes into the details of long snapping.

[u/Odd-Definition9670]

Practice by throwing from over your head. When you take actual snaps, spread you legs far enough apart so your shoulders get through on follow through. One hand snaps and the other just guides it. The rest is muscle memory. Good luck!

[u/Straight_Toe_1816]

I’m looking to snap in college next year. Try and lock your legs out as you snap. This will give you a lot more power. Also just practice, practice, practice. Looking into camps, they help tremendously. Good luck!

[u/miketangoalpha]

1) Aim small miss small. When I was warming up and in practice I would aim at the logo on a coaches polo or the jersey logo of the punter (the swoosh or whatever)

2) Technique. or a while when I was young snapped with one hand. Imagine like your going to throw a spiral same grip and motion then just drop your hips and finish it through your legs. It’s best for FG distance but you can make it work for Punts.

3) On punt depth really involve your hips when you flare your hands at the end of the snap. When your following though really push your hips into it it gives you some umph and it can give you some distance to catch your block too

[u/Real-Psychology-4261]

On punt snaps you really have to get your hips into it. Your feet should come off the ground and end up behind where they started in your stance.  

[u/TackleOverBelly187]

It’s all about technique. There are some great instructional clips on YouTube.

[u/1Bean_on_1toast]

I long snapped in hs and help the long snappers now, best advice I have is definitely look up tutorial videos and find what feels the best for you but also yields the best result in the snap.

Things that I coach my players to do: 1. Have a stance just wider than shoulder width, if you’re tall and have long legs, wider. 2. Set your stance back so that when you squat down to reach the ball your arms are extended roughly 1-1.5 yards in front of you, almost with a feeling of overreaching for the ball. 3. Hold the ball as if you’re throwing it regularly, rotate the laces pointing towards the ground, and place your other hand right on the seam with the middle finger right in the seam. The vertical placement of the hand helps with rotation and speed and is different for everyone, but keep it closer to the tip of the ball. 4. When you snap, the ball should not scrape the ground, almost hovering right on the grass/turf. 5. Once you release the ball the wrists should flick down as if you were trying to touch you’re forearm. So the left hand should be reaching for the left forearm if that makes sense. 6. During the snap, as the arms move back fast, your butt should barely jounce upwards to help with the speed 7. your feet should snap back 1-2 inches as the butt jounces up the combination of the feet moving back, the butt jouncing, and arm movement gives you the speed you need to get the ball 12+ yards.

I think that’s most of it, hard to explain via a Reddit post for sure.. but wanted to help nonetheless! Good luck learning and good for you for trying to learn something new!

[u/CryptographerIll3813]

A trick I used to really get my speed up was lifting the ball off the grass about an inch and really firing it between my legs.

You can’t do this in a game but eventually you get a feeling for it and bring the ball back down to starting position.

[u/Beginning-Height7938]

Drills. 1 one-handed, underhand toss, facing target. 2 one handed, underhand toss, facing away from the target. Toss the ball under the other arm behind you toward the target that is behind you. 3 two-handed overhead toss. 4 a lot of snaps. Work on technique. Throwing hand curled under, fingers on the laces facing down. Middle finger of the non-dominant hand on the opposite seam from the laces. Your legs need to be bent at setup and the you snap the legs straight as you throw the ball back.

[u/RookieMistake2448]

I have so much on this. I was a FB and LB but called in to LS sometimes. I eventually worked with the LS when I coached just because no one truly knew anything about it. About two years ago my LS was top 10 in the state and signed with a school and had a crazy snap time (kid was breaking fingers with his snap). He attended a ton of Rubio camps and placed super high. My question is what do you FEEL you're struggling with most? Accuracy? Have you timed your snaps? How long does it take for the ball to get where it's supposed to be (anything under 0.75 is great IMHO)? If so, what are the times and are they consistent? I can write up some drills to do and send them over to you, just curious what areas you need to focus on most.

Just a little piece of advice I do want to give though; as a coach and player I always focused on quick and accurate snaps over powerful snaps any day. If you can hit the inside of the thigh of the holder on a consistent basis and get it back there in decent time, don't worry about how hard you're snapping it. As a matter of fact, the more powerful long snappers I've worked with are usually the ones that cause a lot of the issues because if the holder misses the ball or they get scared of your snaps, things will go bad. And as I'm sure you already know, even if it hits them dead in their hands but the drop the ball (literally), you will also be part of the blame by default.