Football season is upon us. Camp is in the rearview mirror for most schools and clubs.

But that doesn’t mean players can stop focusing on skill development. Athletes need to work hard every day and continue to improving fundamentals.

Evan Burk, an offensive assistant at UCLA, worked with quarterbacks during recent USA Football Regional Development Camps and National Development Games. He worked alongside young QBs to hone their talent pools, especially accuracy.

“For improving accuracy, a QB needs to throw the football a lot, but he cannot just walk out onto the field and wing it,” Burk said. “It has to be constantly worked, every day. Every throw has to have a purpose. By that I mean quarterbacks should never be just tossing the ball back and forth. Every throw is important toward building and developing accuracy and stamina and good fundamentals.

“Quarterbacks should always be picking out a spot to throw to when warming up, because that is when you are developing the muscle memory with your arms, core and feet that will lead to accuracy in practice and in the games.”

Burk recently shared four drills he recommends to help young quarterbacks can improve their throwing skills.

• Toes on the line. QBs align 10 yards apart standing on a line. The quarterbacks are standing still with toes on the line and delivering the ball without stepping or striding into the throw. The key is to snap the hips and focus on good ball placement.
• Punch step. Still aligned 10 yards apart, QBs assume a stance with shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and feet parallel to the line. On the coach’s command, QBs take a six-inch punch step with their front (target) feet, toes pointing slightly out. Bring each back (plant) foot through so players end up with their back feet almost even with the front feet. The athlete wants to finish the throw on his toes and get the ball out fast.
• The easy way. Still aligned 10 yards apart, face away from the partner. On the coaches command, the QB flips his hips (to the left for a right-handed quarterback – “the easy way”) and delivers the ball quickly to his partner. Upon finishing the throw, the QB should look exactly like he did when finishing the punch step drill. Quarterbacks should always be focusing on throwing a catchable pass.
• The hard way. Same as the easy way, but now going the opposite way. The player has to be careful with his feet. The key is to work the feet to get around to the punch stance, not hopping around. This drill is all about quick feet and getting the feet set and ready to throw.  Coaches also can incorporate both drills with quarterbacks jogging away from their partner, still focusing on using quick feet to get in to position to make a quick release throw. To take it up one more notch, have a coach give either an easy or hard command,and make the QB think quick and throw quick.

Burk urges players to listen to their bodies. He said quarterbacks should focus on making no more than 180 throws in a particular training or throwing session. Should arm fatigue begin, lighten the stress on the arm. Do not try to tough it out and continue to throw if injury is a possibility. 

SEE ALSO: Click here to see all of USA Football's quarterback Skills and Drills vidoes