My Saving Grace During The Pandemic

Over the past year, I’ve been playing a lot of football with my roommate to pass the time during lockdown. So much so that we’ve both gotten noticeably better, as we’re able to do more things (ie throw using new techniques to get it to new spots more accurately, catching in more and different positions ie one handed and behind the back etc). And as we expand what we’re able to do in our little practice sessions, we’ve realized that there’s a lot of creativity to be had. A lot of flow state.

I remember playing music on the beach and getting in a good rhythm, throwing really well, catching really well, and it felt like the same transcendent flow experience of dancing or writing or something. It’s always been there, but I’ve just learned more about myself through meditation, journaling, and Zat Rana’s essays that I’m much more cognizant of what’s happening.

My favorite beach to play on: Chrissy Field in San Francisco

For one, it’s a beautiful collaborative, creative act with another being. When somebody is running out to the ball, you can’t stare too hard at the spot you’re going to throw to, because if you stare at a piece of the ground that you want to get the ball to, you’ll completely miss the receiver. You’ll completely miss the lagging indicators that can help you predict what point they well get to when, and when you focus too much on the route in your head, drawing a mental stop sign and just deciding a head of time to lug that pigskin the general direction, you will fail. Because throwing the football isn’t about an arbitrary point, it’s about reading the other person and delivering something you can promise.

You need to read their body language as they run, listening to when they’re in the moment when they’re at the max speed and they can reasonably adjust to the ball. Usually, they tell you to stand in one spot when you throw, very deliberately taking a step into your throw for maximum power and control, but I’ve realized that I like to move around when throwing.

Throwing while moving much harder because you need to use a lot more core to stabilize yourself in midair enough to still give that “whip” effect with your wrist. But it just feels like you can get in better sync with the guy running, as you’re moving just like they are, and your body can better calibrate where they’re going to. Somehow, it feels like my core muscles are able to empathize and get the ball to where I want it to go as if I were running the route - a human-centered design football throw.

Aaron Rodgers has the most beautiful throw in the entire NFL. This pass at :29, on the run, right on the money is what every little kid playing in their backyards is emulating At this point, I’m convinced there’s no greater way to truly loosen up and stretch your mind like throwing the football. Not thinking about putting enough hip, not thinking about your arm placement, just throwing the ball like you would dance - with your eyes mentally closed, your brain in a pure physical state where thoughts becomes feelings and feelings become movements and movements subsume themselves to the greater ordered chaos of the music. You hurl that fucking thing with nothing but the fire in your belly, your fingers flicking the ball with their own embodied intelligence.

I originally posted this as a Quora answer here: https://www.quora.com/Why-are-you-loving-American-football/answer/Yinon-Raviv