Professional football teams often play in climate-controlled, indoor stadiums. For college, high school and youth league teams, though, football is still an all-weather sport. When nature conjures up rainy weather, a wet football can behave alarmingly like a bar of soap -- but there's no great mystery to learning how to grip a football in the rain. With simple, sound fundamentals and lots of practice, any player can learn to master ball handling in wet weather.
Step 1
Hold the ball with your normal grip pressure. Avoid the urge to squeeze the ball harder in wet weather. This is an especially important consideration for centers and quarterbacks, who frequently grip the ball with only one hand. Centers, who may be used to gripping the ball near the tip, need to move their hand back closer to the laces. Quarterbacks should use a normal throwing grip, with two or three fingers of the throwing hand across the laces.
Step 2
Secure the ball in both hands as often as possible. Quarterbacks should ball fake with one hand near each end of the ball. On drop backs and roll outs, they should hold the ball in throwing-ready position with both hands until they start the throwing motion.
Step 3
Grip the ball with your hand covering one end, and the other end jammed securely against your bicep when you're carrying it while running. Squeeze the football high against your chest, with your hand just under your chin and your forearm around the outside of the ball. Keep your elbow tucked in against your side as tightly as possible to protect the ball from side impacts and defenders reaching in.
Tips and Warnings
- Run scrimmages, passing drills and running back drills with water-soaked balls once a week. Waiting until game day to adjust to wet weather is a recipe for disaster.
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