Throughout history, football has remained incredibly popular throughout the United States. That being said, many are often unaware that professional football games used to last 70 minutes long. Interestingly, it was President Theodore Roosevelt who felt the total game length needed to be shortened to 60 minutes. Throughout the duration of a football game, it’s important that certain players are ready to grip the ball with confidence. With that in mind, here are five methods for improving your ability to catch a football.

  1. Strengthen Your Forearms

    One of the best ways to improve your grip is by having strong forearms. While it might seem odd, the forearms play an incredibly important role in how strong your grip is. Weightlifters often utilize forearm training in order to increase their grip. There are numerous exercises that can strengthen your forearms. That being said, one of the easiest involves a single dumbbell. To strengthen your forearms, simply place your wrists on a weight bench. Next, grab a lightweight dumbbell and curl your wrist upwards. Over time, your forearm and grip strength will increase.

  2. Purchase a Pair of Football Gloves

    It’s also important to ensure that you have a quality pair of football grip gloves. These gloves help to reduce the problem of sweaty hands losing a pass. Instead, these gloves as a second skin for your hands. This also helps to ensure that your hands are protected from cuts while playing football. While these items by themselves are great, you’ll want to learn how to keep football gloves sticky.

  3. Keep Your Football Gloves Sticky

    If you want to know how to keep football gloves sticky, use grip spray. Many players who are working to improve their catching skills utilize sprays to improve their grip. You’ll find that there are many types of these sprays available. Whether you call it grip spray or football glove juice, these materials work well to keep your gloves clean. In turn, you’ll have the perfect surface available to catch passes with ease.

  4. Try Grip Building Devices

    You can also try grip strengthening devices. Many of these devices are able to fit into the palm of your hand. In addition, there are multiple types of grip strength levels that you can use. Therefore, you’ll first want to consider building your strength with beginner grip trainers. Over time, you can purchase trainers that require a stronger grip.

  5. Check the Football

    Official NFL standards require that any official game footballs maintain a PSI of 13. Considering that, one reason you’re failing to make catches could be because the football is under or overinflated. In addition, you might consider purchasing a higher quality football. For instance, the Wilson Sporting Goods company is the official provider of footballs for the NFL. Statistics show that Wilson Sporting Goods provides the NFL with over 25,000 footballs for official game use.

To summarize, there are several ways to increase your grip strength. A strong grip allows those playing football to have an easier time catching passes. Many football players wear gloves in order to improve their grip. Considering that, an essential aspect of having improved grip strength is learning how to keep football gloves sticky. You’ll find that grip spray works incredibly well for keeping your gloves clean, sticky, and ready to catch a football.