What is off-season football for? Pounding angles that have already been written about several times before. Today’s installment? 49ers quarterback Alex Smith’s work with Tom House, the former major league pitcher turned throwing guru.Smith spent four hours with House, who has a doctorate in sports psychology. He gave Smith a psychological test, asked about his nutrition, and then broke down his mechanics through super slo mo. Several quarterbacks have gone to House, including Saint Drew Brees. He said House’s psychological breakdown was the most valuable.Smith believes the warm-up routine and the exercises for the back of the shoulder might be the most worthy aspect of House’s work shop.“You get stronger in certain areas because of the motion, you get weaker in certain areas,” Smith said of his shoulder muscles. “A lot of exercises kind of counteract that. I did talk to Drew about it and it’s the daily routine that you build. It’s an every single day type of deal. That is something that I’ve really noticed. The warm up, the daily deal.”Smith said he used to start throwing in practice with no warm up at all, but now he has an intense routine to get his surgically-repaired shoulder prepared for action.Much has been made of the mechanical tweaks Smith underwent under House’s tutelage, including flexing his front knee, head position through the throw and the rotation of his front hip. Smith is working on those mechanics, but admitted changes can be difficult.He said towards the end of practice he lapses into old habits. The changes also may have limited utility once the season starts.“All of a sudden when 300-pound guys are running at ya, you just react and throw,” Smith said. “Those are the times when no one cares about the mechanics, the deal is get the ball to the guy before you get tackled.”