Two metrics that are crucial for quarterbacks are arm speed and release time. Arm speed refers to how quickly your arm moves from the start of the throw to the finish. Release time refers to how long it takes to release the football from the start of the throw to the finish.
Arm speed is essential for velocity when throwing the football. Greater arm speed results in more potential for velocity off of the hand. However, this is not the entire story. You must also be an efficient thrower. Arm speed paired with proper sequencing, hip and torso rotation speed, and great deceleration is when you will see the biggest velocity. Just having arm speed but lacking the other components of throwing often results in loss of accuracy, velocity, and potential for injury.
Release time is critical for quarterbacks and becomes more important as you play at higher levels because throwing windows become much smaller. Release time is a combination of several factors. First, you must have a clean and efficient delivery. A long windup will often result in a prolonged release time. Here are several things that may increase release time.
One common pitfall is sacrificing release time for velocity and a clean/efficient delivery. Some quarterbacks will change their fundamentals to decrease the release time, but end up losing significant velocity on the throw. One common mistake I see quarterbacks make when trying to decrease release time is to take little to no pull. The pull phase is critical because it allows the back hip time to rotate and for the body to sequence properly. Without a pull, the hips fire at the same time or after the arm leading to loss of velocity and power.
Looking at both arm speed and release time together helps paint a clearer picture of the efficiency of the throw. A fast arm speed and release time, also paired with correct kinematic sequence, shows a quarterback who is an efficient thrower. A fast release time but slow arm speed, paired with poor kinematic sequence, often reveals a quarterback who is sacrificing velocity and power to try and get the ball out of their hand as quickly as possible. A slow arm speed and slow release time often reveal major deficiencies in both throwing efficiency and power/acceleration.
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