Why doesn't Johnson ever watch the ball into his hands?

[MadCardDisease]

The Infamous Skillethands photo from the Chiefs game:

Now here is a recent photo from Cardinals minicamp:

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This is why Johnson will never be a top flight WR/Kick returner.

 

[BigRedRage]

At that point of catching the ball you assume your hands are in position and move on, if you claim that you stare at the ball every time you catch it until it is properly secured in your possession I say you are full of it!

But the pictures sure are funny!

 

[Shogun]

You can't always look in it because you won't see where the gunners are coming from. If you have to look it in as returner on this level, you should just give up. It should be second nature at this point.

Johnson's speed and vision is why he's not a top flight return man, not this.

 

[Mulli]

Those are some scary high-flying gunners he is looking up toward the sky/ceiling for.

 

[MadCardDisease]

You can't always look in it because you won't see where the gunners are coming from. If you have to look it in as returner on this level, you should just give up. It should be second nature at this point.

The problem is he is not looking down field. He is looking up in the air.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Here's the answer. As a former receiver, he is always trying to catch the ball with his arms/chest. He must have small hands, or doubt his ability to catch the ball with his hands, and thats what causes him to lose sight of the ball, because his hands are at his chest, instead of being extended out in front of him.

 

[Gambit]

The problem is he is not looking down field. He is looking up in the air.

Wasn't the first photo while he was in the endzone? I was "watching" on Gamecast on the internet so I'm not sure.

 

[Mulli]

Wasn't the first photo while he was in the endzone? I was "watching" on Gamecast on the internet so I'm not sure.

Yep. gamecast is terrible

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Here's the answer. As a former receiver, he is always trying to catch the ball with his arms/chest. He must have small hands, or doubt his ability to catch the ball with his hands, and thats what causes him to lose sight of the ball, because his hands are at his chest, instead of being extended out in front of him.

Well, I've seen a lot of catches by BJ with his hands fully extended, so you hardly have the definitive answer.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Well, I've seen a lot of catches by BJ with his hands fully extended, so you hardly have the definitive answer.

On the ones where he loses sight of the ball? Show me.

 

[Gambit]

Yep. gamecast is terrible

Agree--I just moved near my favorite sports bar so next season I will go there for every Sunday to watch the games. No more of the horrible Gamecast, aka "what just happened?! Why is the ball suddenly 50 yards from scrimmage?!"

 

[Shane]

Have any of you ever played WR in football?

You could watch any WR in the NFL and when they catch the ball with there chest like he is doing in these two photos no WR watches the ball all the way to their chests. It just doesnt happen and is really quite silly if they tried.

They look the ball into their hands not their chests. Most WR's will catch longer deep balls in the packet in between there chest and arms as well rather than reaching up and snagging it with two hands.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Have any of you ever played WR in football?

I played WR for 4 years in High School and had former All Pro Cardinals WR Mel Grey as a WR coach for one year. I was always taught to watch the ball into my hands. I had most of my drops when I failed to watch the ball into my hands. This was mainly because I was looking at where I was going before I actually caught the ball.

I was also taught not to catch with my chest and to always go after the ball at its highest point. Catching with your chest is dangerous because the ball has a tendency to bounce right off your shoulder pads.

Now obviously HS football is much different than NFL football. However the fundamentals are usually still the same. IMO if Johnson would have been looking at the ball instead of the hole in the roof on that TD pass, he would have come down with it.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I played WR for 4 years in High School and had former All Pro Cardinals WR Mel Grey as a WR coach for one year. I was always taught to watch the ball into my hands. I had most of my drops when I failed to watch the ball into my hands. This was mainly because I was looking at where I was going before I actually caught the ball.

I was also taught not to catch with my chest and to always go after the ball at its highest point. Catching with your chest is dangerous because the ball has a tendency to bounce right off your shoulder pads.

Now obviously HS football is much different than NFL football. However the fundamentals are usually still the same. IMO if Johnson would have been looking at the ball instead of the hole in the roof on that TD pass, he would have come down with it.

I absolutely agree with you and played 3 years, along with CB as well.

Hell, look at our own Larry Fitzgerald and see how many balls he catches in his chest. (rather the lack thereof) It is no coincidence he has the surest hands in the league.

 

[NEZCardsfan]

If I remember correctly, the ball was just ever so slightly underthrown.

He couldn't quite get up and get it at it's highest point, and that gave the DB a chance to make a play on the ball.

With that said, I've never liked BJohnson, he's not aggressive enough with his hands.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

At that point of catching the ball you assume your hands are in position and move on, if you claim that you stare at the ball every time you catch it until it is properly secured in your possession I say you are full of it!

But the pictures sure are funny!

For punt returns? OK, I will buy it.

But as a reciever you ALWAYS watch the pass all the way into your hands. That is why guys like Rice, Steve Smith, and Chad Johnson just don't drop passes.

 

[Pariah]

It's funny, I just watched a Scientific American Frontiers on the science of sports and using technology to become better athletes.

One of the segments was on where your eyes go during particular actions. Catching a football wasn't one of them, but what they found was that at the last second your eyes leave the target when shooting free throws. It's supposed to.

So, these pictures may not be as damning as the initially look.

 

[BigRedRage]

makes sense

 

[conraddobler]

Why not try the man at corner?

 

[Shane]

I played WR for 4 years in High School and had former All Pro Cardinals WR Mel Grey as a WR coach for one year. I was always taught to watch the ball into my hands. I had most of my drops when I failed to watch the ball into my hands. This was mainly because I was looking at where I was going before I actually caught the ball.

I was also taught not to catch with my chest and to always go after the ball at its highest point. Catching with your chest is dangerous because the ball has a tendency to bounce right off your shoulder pads.

Now obviously HS football is much different than NFL football. However the fundamentals are usually still the same. IMO if Johnson would have been looking at the ball instead of the hole in the roof on that TD pass, he would have come down with it.

I absolutley agree with you. Anyone who has played WR who had any kind of decent coaching was taught to look the ball into their hands and to catch with their hands.

However most every WR in the NFL, college, HS, today does it. They always have. They always will. Dreamcast is right that Fitz is one of the very few that you will almost never see do that. But I could give you a whole list of pro-bowl WR's that do including Jerry Rice the man considered the best ever I watched him pull balls into his chest many times. Even Boldin catches with his chest on occasion.

The simple fact is that when you do chest catch you arent going to look it into your chest. At some point the eyes come off the ball and you feel for it to hit your chest. Are you more likely to drop it? Of course. Im not arguing that.

Now if you guys could show me a picture of him trying to snag one with his two hands out in front of him and his eyes elsewhere you may have a valid argument IMO. But not with this type of catch that he is attempting to make.

 

[Pariah]

Here's the Scientific American Frontiers clip online. It's the first one called "A Quiet Eye."

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1206/video/watchonline.htm

 

[4Devil]

Does this site have some type of rule where you only have so much time to complete your post or it gets automatically zapped?
I just had a fairly and somewhat time consuming reply that got axed when I tried to post it.

 

[Linderbee]

Does this site have some type of rule where you only have so much time to complete your post or it gets automatically zapped?
I just had a fairly and somewhat time consuming reply that got axed when I tried to post it.

No, but if you don't have 'remember me' checked when you log-in, I've had it time out while posting. If I'm somewhere that I can't 'remember me', I have learned to highlight my post & ctrl-c it before I submit my reply to make my life easier if it doesn't make it.

 

[nurnay]

I absolutley agree with you. Anyone who has played WR who had any kind of decent coaching was taught to look the ball into their hands and to catch with their hands.

It's not just WR in football, but any sport that involves catching the ball. I've heard the mantra since little league.

My son fell victim to not looking the ball into the mitt when we were playing catch one day. He was only 7, I think, and ended up getting bonked right in the nose. I felt awful and he was afraid to play for a few months, but guess what? He looks the ball into the mitt now!

 

[Southpaw]

There is a surgical procedure that cures receivers of this affliction. Surgeons delicately remove a portion of your brain. The part that has to do with survival. A cheaper procedure is to have your hearing sense turned of, so that you don't hear the footsteps.

It is one thing to look it in on the practice field. We all did that. Another thing is to do it during high speed NFL action. Easy to say , next to impossible to do.