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Left Handed Center

SandD65

Firstie
Gold Member
Feb 10, 2007
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Have read where MH has changed to snapping with his left hand.

Am wondering if the reason(s) for that have to do with him being left handed (don't know if he is or not), a left handed snap is better for a right handed quarterback (also, don't know if that would be the case), Kelvin White, a left hander has changed position, or combinations of the foregoing.

The option which intrigues me the most is if a left handed snap puts the ball into a right handed quarterback's hands better?

Beat the Comm!
 
Originally posted by ducrot pepys:
Hugenberg is left handed.
laugh.r191677.gif
 
I don't claim to have any expertise on this but I find it interesting. This is one of those bits of esoterica, that offensive linemen understand, but most of us fans don't.

Apparently hand dominance can influence which side of the ball an OL ends up playing. If you'll recall, Shumaker played right guard as a yearling, but was switched to left guard after Frank Allen left because he was more comfortable playing on that side. Reichert and Hugenberg took over at right guard, and there was some discussion about handedness influencing those moves.

In the Army offensive scheme the OLs take their set position with their inside hand down (check the photos). and if I recall correctly from my reading at the time, this is the opposite of the scheme used by most teams. Some teams allow their OLs to put either hand or no hand on the ground. I'm sure that OL coaches have given this a lot more thought than I have. Our center has one hand on the ball and the other on the ground. As a right guard, Hugenberg would have had his left hand down, but as a center he now has his left hand on the ball and right hand on the ground.

To me, the issue is more having the quarterback comfortable with which hand the center uses, especially if you have to change centers and the quarterback has to adjust to a different snap. I don't know if it's possible for a left handed center to snap the ball so that it ends up the same as if a right hander snapped it.
 
Originally posted by goodknight65:


In the Army offensive scheme the OLs take their set position with their inside hand down (check the photos). and if I recall correctly from my reading at the time, this is the opposite of the scheme used by most teams.
You might want to change the tense of the verb "take" in this statement.
wink.r191677.gif


In fact, you might not want to generalize about the entire O line.

Right guard: outside hand down. Right tackle: neither hand down. Left guard: looks like his inside hand is down. Left tackle: looks like neither hand is down. Center: non-snapping hand not on ground.

12658867.jpg







R & L guard as above, but here the R tackle has his outside hand down. C has his non-snapping hand on the ground.

12658920.jpg

This post was edited on 4/15 4:23 PM by ducrot pepys
 
As I noted, I'm no expert on this topic, but the articles I read all seemed to agree that when taking a three point stance, it is the outside hand that goes down:


http://athletic-assistant.com/uploads/FundamentalsGoodOLineman.pdf




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If you are on the right side of the Center and go down into a 3 point stance you will do so with your Right hand in
contact with the ground. If you are on the left side of the Center you will go into a stance with you Left hand in
contact with the ground. Going down into a stance with both hands will be practiced as you may play either side
from game to game and may be moved during the course of the game from side to side.
 
Most OL, unless required by their coach to do something else, put their dominant hand down because their dominant foot is back. It gives you more balance and helps you stay down. Coaches may change that based upon the skills and requirements of the player, For instance a left guard who does a lot of pulling to his right may want his left hand down to allow quicker turn of the shoulders when he pulls. If he loop blocks, goes behind the T more, he may desire to keep his right hand down. Vice versa on the right side. In the Wishbone, the tackle releases to the LB level more often than he base blocks so he may be required to change his hand depending on what the offense does most, release inside or outside. Back in the JY days when the guard was most often covered by the 3 technique, we had the guards put both hands down.
Either way, the hand placement must become consistent so as not to give away the play.
 
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