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Henne's touch pass

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maxtor10000

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I've been wondering recently why he seems to be have so much trouble at times at throwing soft touch passes to the backs. He often just rifels them, leading to overthrows or dropped balls. After all of these years of playing the QB position, how is it not second nature to him yet to throw it softer if the receiver is only a few yards away? That made me wonder if he just physically can't do it, which seemed ridiculous, but then I ran across this quote from Ben Rothlisberger (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...(Miami+Dolphins+/+South+Florida+Sun-Sentinel)):

DAVIE - Ben Roethlisberger has some bad news for those Miami Dolphins followers waiting patiently for Chad Henne's passing touch to catch up with his obvious arm strength.

In that typically blunt way of his, Big Ben says it probably won't happen.

"You can't really teach a touch pass," the two-time Super Bowl champion says as his Steelers prepare for Sunday's game against the Dolphins. "You either have it or you don't, I think. I could be completely wrong, but that's just my opinion on it."

Roethlisberger may be able to fire a football 60 yards downfield, a la Henne, but Big Ben downplays the notion he had to learn how to feather passes out to the flat and over linebackers early in his career.

"I feel like I've always been able to do it," he says.
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I hope Ben is wrong, since if he is not, this could really prevent Henne from reaching his full potential...
 
Well you sure can't teach someone how to "fire a football 60 yards downfield."

Just ask Penny.

I guess his running backs will just have to learn to catch better. lol
 
How the hell would he know that it's not something you can learn if he's "always been able to do it"?
 
gota said:
How the hell would he know that it's not something you can learn if he's "always been able to do it"?
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One can't be sure, but he has been around football and QBs a long time, so if this was something that a lot of QBs had to and could learn later in the careers he probably would know about it.

Ben may well be talking out of his arse here, but he knows more about being a QB and what it takes to make the various throws than any of us so I wouldn't just discount what he said.
 
From what I have seen if it is a designed play, he makes the soft throw. His rocket balls come when he has pressure on him and checking down. It is crazy too, because it looks like he is just flicking the ball with his wrist and it takes off like a rocket. This will come with time.
 
hes only completed one touch pass this year and it was to camarillo for a 1st conversion. impressive but rare.
 
exactly...you cant teach a touch pass just like you cant teach speed... you can practice a touch pass but in real life game speed its something you gotta be talented in doing on the fly...
 
napsndreds said:
exactly...you cant teach a touch pass just like you cant teach speed... you can practice a touch pass but in real life game speed its something you gotta be talented in doing on the fly...
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To be better in "real life game speed" you just cant be able and talented doing on the fly. It comes with practice and repetition over and over and over again, until it becomes second nature. It's basic conditioning. That won't comes over the course of one year, but as he keeps working on it, the "touch pass" will develop. No great QB is a finished product just coming out.
 
napsndreds said:
hes only completed one touch pass this year and it was to camarillo for a 1st conversion. impressive but rare.
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you right about that pass.. it was a GREAT throw and in only his 2nd start.

i think he just needs time, personally. nothing indicates to me he cannot make the throw. just need some reps to get it down.

"practice makes perfect"
 
Marino was the same way and it didn't seem to hurt his career.
 
Marino specifically addressed this in an interview and said that with strong armed QBs the touch pass is the very last thing they learn.

Marinos Opinion > Rothelsberbgjleinlndsfiubner Opinion
 
misterjb55 said:
That won't comes over the course of one year, but as he keeps working on it, the "touch pass" will develop. No great QB is a finished product just coming out.
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Exactly. Henne doesn't even have one complete season under his belt and folks are looking to dump him. Please. Give the guy some better tools at WR, don't put him into ridiculous situations (hey Henne, can you bring us back from being down 27-0) and most importantly, give him the time he needs to develop. Every QB will have interceptions during the year, they'll all overthrow guys at times and they'll all have bad games at some point in the season. After the way we've lost some games this year, QB is the least of our concern IMHO.
 
I can remeber a lot more touch passes than 1, the TD to Hartline on 4th down for starters a couple weeks ago in the corner of the endzone after missing a similar play right before. So to say he can't learn a touch pass is rediculous. He did it "on the fly" in the game for a TD.
 
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