Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard is everything you want when it comes to the intangibles. He has a great head on his shoulders, shows tremendous leadership, quality diagnostic skills, and timely decision-making. 

The only knock there has ever been on Will Howard is the physical side of the game. The arm strength, the body composition, the high-level traits…Howard didn’t have a ton of those coming out of Ohio State, but he’s heard that criticism and he’s taking accountability. 

Will Howard says he’s changed his mechanics to improve his throw power 

“The biggest thing [for me] coming out of college was using my body, and I feel like a knock on me coming out of the draft was arm strength and stuff like that,” Howard told Kay Adams on a recent episode of Up and Adams. “One of the things that we’ve been working on a lot is just keeping my cleats in the ground, utilizing all the ground force that I possibly can, and really just refining my mechanics and shoring some things up.” – 

How mechanics affect arm strength

When Tom Brady came out of Michigan, and even during his early days in the NFL, his arm strength was never perceived to be top-notch. He wasn’t viewed among the likes of Michael Vick or Donovan McNabb. But over time, his arm seemingly got stronger and stronger. 

By the time his career was over in Tampa, Brady looked like he could still spin the laces of the football. Brady was also notorious for not being a big lifter, focusing on pliability and flexibility instead. So where did that strength come from all of a sudden? Repetitions. 

Rebuilding your base to generate as much force from the ground, through your posterior chain and hips, and up to your arm, is about efficiency as much as it is explosion. 

The muscle fibers are only as strong as their recruitment. If you can’t use all the different muscles required to throw a football at a high rate of velocity, it won’t matter how strong you are. 

So by working on the small things, Howard can eventually unlock the bigger picture.