Taylor's Throwing Motion

kchusker_chris

kchusker_chris

All-American
I know this has been discussed over and over, again and again. But it seems to be getting worse as the season goes on.

Look at the 2:00 and 2:20 marks from Okie-St last year. He steps in to the throw much better.




(It's really hard to find highlights of his throws because he doesn't complete many) It looks like his feet are within 10-12 inches of each other when he throws. He's off the back leg. Side armed. Body is twisted. What happened? Did Watson leaving as QB coach really have this dramatic of an impact on his motion? don't comment on that Zoogie :) Is someone trying to change something? What's going on? Any ideas?

 
Maybe he needs to spend some time with the baseball coach to first learn how to throw a ball correctly. Who learned to throw off their back leg with their body wide open? Start with the basics....

 
Did Watson leaving as QB coach really have this dramatic of an impact on his motion? don't comment on that Zoogie :)
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:lol:

No, I really don't think so!

Taylor's throwing motion really wasn't good coming in, and a lot of people put that (unfairly) on Watson last year. It would be equally unfair to put it on Beck now. It is what it is and the coaches must be doing what they can, but this one shouldn't really be on any coach.

We can still work with it though, but of course nobody is expecting him to get great at it.

I agree with almost everything Enhance says below. Although I don't think slant passes are one of the harder throws to make. I would have thought it would be one of the more basic ones! The out is supposed to be an example of a hard throw I think. Remember that one college coach who was talking about how well Harrison Beck threw the 'out'.

 
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Personally I don't think those videos show enough to really give a good analysis. To me, his throwing motion and footwork hasn't changed from last year to this year. It's still pretty bad no matter how you look at it.

The great thing about college, however, is you don't need good mechanics to be a good quarterback, because defenses aren't anywhere near as sophisticated as they are in the NFL. I've gone back and forth on his throwing motion in my head, and the more I think about it the more confused I get. However, I now believe his mechanics don't have as much do with his accuracy as his general aim does. If you throw the ball where it needs to be, your mechanics don't have to be great. Some pretty accurate college quarterbacks haven't had great mechanics, and some inaccurate quarterbacks have had good mechanics.

I think Martinez just struggles to place the ball where it needs to be on crossing routes. He's successful with the deep ball because his receivers can go up and make a play, and we have great speed at the WR position. Slant patterns are one of the most difficult throws to make, though, and I think he struggles to put the ball where it needs to be.

By my way of thinking, your mechanics shouldn't matter on whether or not you can throw the ball towards a moving target. The velocity of your throw as well as the speed of the receiver dictates the aim I think.

 
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I think its a fine line where mechanics come into play. When he throws those shorter passes across the middle he has that tendacy to drop down with his arm angle and come more from the side. When he does that and basically gets almost under the ball, it has a tendacy to want to sail high and away, I think thats where a lot of those slant passes expose the receiver when they have to either reach behind them or go up high to make the catch.

On the long passes when he doesn't step into the throw is when the ball again balloons and hangs in the air (the long pass to Kyler Reed in the Wyoming game), if he can step into the throw he gets much better trajectory and has a much better chance of letting the receiver run under the ball and catch it in stride. It does bring in the possibility of overthrowing the receiver, but also lessens the chance of the interception.

Sometimes the mechanics will make the difference between that first down completion and a ball tipped away, or that long pass going for a TD as opposed to just the large gain.

Like others have said, many college QB's don't have excellent mechanics and get by just fine, as TM does (and hopefully will continue to do). I just had hoped to see some refinements over the offseason.

But hopefully it won't matter, and he'll continue to run the football effictively.

 
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I don't think comparing a couple of pass plays last year, where Taylor showed marginal mechanics, to throws this year means he has gotten worse. Taylor's throwing motion hasn't changed.

You could easily do this video comparison with any other team from last year. It's just as ugly this year as it was last year.

 
Doctor Tom said:
Maybe he needs to spend some time with the baseball coach to first learn how to throw a ball correctly. Who learned to throw off their back leg with their body wide open? Start with the basics....
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At this point I'm not even mad with Tmart and his throwing motion, he obviously is too far gone to correct at this point. I am super p.o'd at his dad though. Who the hell lets their kid throw like that? Thats just bad parenting, borderline child abuse.

 
i have been saying since day one he needs to fix the foot work and throwing motion. The frustrating part is that is seems we are too enamored with him being neat and fast that we just tend to over look it. And i hate hearing that its too late to change it, thats not true at all, it means someone needs to do the job and just flat out coach him to do it. There is a reason why he cant hit any sort of timing route, his throwing motion takes forever. Now i do think he looks a bit better when he throws the ball with some zip, looks like he isnt trying to aim the throw and just lets it go.

 
i think that he has been thinking a lot both running and throwing the ball. while that has been a good thing... has has been making less stupid plays, I think it has hindered him some as well. I think as he relaxes you will see him run and throw the ball better. watching him throw the ball he seems to aiming hi throws to much and just seeing the open man and letting it go. this does concern me a little since this is the same thing we saw from zac lee.... at the time I had said that something wanst right and then it came out later his arm was hurt..... hopefully this is the former rather than the latter

 
His throwing motion makes me want to puke. It reminds me of watching a right handed junior high girl trying to throw left handed...

 
He throws like Uncle Rico.

uncle_rico_2.jpg


 
huskerbronco1997 said:
i have been saying since day one he needs to fix the foot work and throwing motion. The frustrating part is that is seems we are too enamored with him being neat and fast that we just tend to over look it. And i hate hearing that its too late to change it, thats not true at all, it means someone needs to do the job and just flat out coach him to do it. There is a reason why he cant hit any sort of timing route, his throwing motion takes forever. Now i do think he looks a bit better when he throws the ball with some zip, looks like he isnt trying to aim the throw and just lets it go.
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I am sure the coaches have been doing everything they can to fix it. Not like they are sitting around doing nothing and saying his throwing motion is fine.

The thing is that he has so far to go in all areas of his mechanics, that it isn't reasonable to expect any major changes, even over his whole career. So even while they are getting after it and doing everything they can, Taylor's throwing is just gonna be what it is. He can improve a lot just to get to "wacky throwing motion that he can get by with mostly".

Much more important is how his decision making goes.

 
It seems to me as though maybe they're unwilling to recoach Taylor and work on his throwing motion at the risk of his throwing performance becoming worse in the process. Changing a throwing motion that's become second nature to him might make for some terrible throwing while he internalizes a new technique. If I were them, I'd be hesitant to work on anything during the season..then again, maybe I'm completely off base :dunno

 
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Maybe someone can answer this, but I am not sure Taylor has developed a certain motion that is just second nature to him and he is comfortable with. Certainly when you include his footwork in it and it's really about the whole package of mechanics anyway. He doesn't seem to have a particular set of mechanics, quirky or not, that just is what he does...it seems like it's a bit all over the place, maybe like he's winging it a little.

I mean some throws you see Taylor have actually decent form (maybe it just looks that way from afar) and he puts the ball where it needs to be. Others, even when he has all the time in the world, will come out horrendous-looking. Maybe that is just him being extra sensitive to pressure.

 
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