How to Carry a Football on a Kick Return

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Sean Hobson, for Expert Village. What we want to talk about now is after the man makes the catch and he starts to accelerate out and get up the field, we want to talk about the proper way to carry the ball. If we have a man returning the ball and he's running in to the right he wants to secure the ball in the left hand as much as possible. But, as he's running to the right if he has a man coming from his left to make the hit he doesn't want to keep the ball in his left hand. If he does, there's a chance he'll knock the ball loose. Switch it to the outside arm so when he goes to make the tackle it's harder to strip the ball. It's the same thing on the other side. If he's carrying the ball to the right side he wants to move it to the left arm if he's going to get contact on the right side. If he's going to be taking direct contact from the front, we want him to cover that ball up with both tips so when he takes that contact he has a better hold on it than he does with one arm. Remember, when you're making the return you can get as much yardage as possible, but if you're not holding the ball right you could be susceptible to a fumble."