What’s Up Phys Ed Fam!
I hope you’re doing great wherever you are and doing what you love most!
Today I will be showing you how I teach under and overhand throws and catching in my PE class, which is one of my all time favorite skills to teach since it can be integrated into so many different games and activities.
It’s also one of the most useful and practical skills for kids to learn (in my opinion) since you have some elements of throwing or catching in almost every single sport.
The Underhand Throw
Check out my overview of the Underhand Throw + some fun Station Activities to use with students below:
In teaching any skill it’s always best practice to break down the critical features of the skill into cue words that will make it super simple for students to remember the most important components of the skill. The cues poster I created that you see in the video is also included in the Throwing and Catching resource pack at the bottom of this post and also included in our skill cues poster pack.
As you saw in the video my cues for the underhand throw are:
- Face your target
- Arm looks like a lower case “l”
- Swing, Step, Throw (always stepping with opposite foot)
After teaching for a while, you’ll see the common errors and can help kids remember to overcome these by going over the most important things like “make sure you are stepping with the OPPOSITE FOOT!” 🙂
Catching Cues
For catching cues, I always go over the ready position which is hands up and knees bent.
Then I teach them our catching cues:
- Reach – hands out toward the ball
- Grab – grab the ball
- Give – bring it into your body
I also like to discuss with kids the concept of catching with thumbs together or pinkies together.
If the ball coming towards them is more likely going over their belly button, their thumbs should be together or similar to a hands-up position.
If the ball is more likely going under their belly button, their pinkies would be together or in hands down position.
I always take time in discussing these, making sure that everyone is on the same page.
Visualization Exercise
As you see in the video I do a visualization exercise with my students before we begin.
I’ve always found it really helpful to have kids visualize the skill and go through the motions without the ball before we get into the task or activity, this will increase their chances of performing it correctly once they have a ball in their hand.
For the station activities you see in the video, I have the exact same directions at EVERY SINGLE STATION, and switch up the type of ball to change the station. Having the same directions makes it much more simple for the young students to understand what to do since they repeat the same thing at every station, but are using a different ball.
At every station students will…
- Self Toss and catch the ball 8 in a row
- Wall Toss and catch 8 in a row
- Repeat if you have time
- Variations:
- Change the number of catches in a row
- Challenge students to keep one foot on a polyspot when throwing and catching
For the younger students (K- 1st graders), I go over the underhand throw cues and catching cues at the same time, but don’t discuss overhand throwing yet. Here’s an example of super simple throw and catch stations with Kindergarten. However, in the upper grades, I combined the three in one review since they have already been exposed to the underhand throw for a couple of years.
The Overhand Throw Cues
You can check out a quick review of my Throwing Cues with an older class below:
When introducing the overhand throw I always like to make sure kids know when you would want to use an overhand throw instead of an underhand throw.
The overhand throw cues I use are:
- Side to Your Target
- Arm is an uppercase “L”
- Step, Twist and Throw
I also remind them that they should do the Step and Twist at the same time to get the power needed to throw the ball farther.
Once the kids get the hang of the basics skills for throwing and catching, you can move on to play some fun games and activities!
A few of my favorite throwing and catching games are linked up below:
- Fire and Ice Tag
- A fun tag game with a throwing and catching element
- Monster Ball
- A fun target throwing game played with a cage ball or exercise ball
- Boom City
- A fun, high energy and cardio combative game that will reinforce throwing and catching skill
- Hula Hut Throwdown
- One of my favorite game creations from J.D. Hughes to work on throwing skills
- Oscars Trashcan
- This is a super simple and fun game that’s great for K-1st to practice their throwing skills
Throwing Lesson Instant Activity Examples
I normally try to work in some throwing practice into the instant activity warmup before each lesson of our throwing unit, below are a few examples
Throw 3x, Jog a Lap, AMRAP
This is pretty simple, get a ball, practice the throwing cues (either over or underhand whichever you’re focusing on) by throwing a ball to a wall and catching 3x then jog a lap, as many rounds as possible in the time limit (2-3 minutes)
If you don’t have a wall, just do it as a partner challenge
Hit the Wall Take a Step Back
You can check out this Instant Activity I use to intro a 2nd grade throwing lesson in the IG post below.
Basically, students start close to the wall and then progress back as they make each successful throw, if they don’t hit the wall in the air they just restart at the beginning and try to beat their record.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpZmFjVhiay/
Gamified Throwing and Catching GIF Challenges
The challenge below is a format I use very often with our Follow the Leader Animated GIF Slideshows
If you don’t have a screen you can always just use a whiteboard and list out the skill challenges, which is what I used to do before getting a screen in my teaching space.
Culminating Activity: Fair Games
For the last lesson in our throwing unit I always plan a fun activity that I call “Fair Games”
The basic concept is that I set up a ton of games around the room and kids have to earn tickets by doing exercises in order to try and play any of the games. We get to practice our throwing skills, get some exercise and also students get to have a fair like experience which is always a lot of fun and a big hit with my students.
You can check out an overview of how it works in the IG Post below:
View this post on Instagram
You get the google slideshows, lesson plans and all the station signs and cues poster visuals I use for my throwing unit in our Throwing Unit Resource Pack, details below:
The Throwing and Catching Resource Pack
If you’re looking for some more resources, I wanted to let you know about our Throwing and Catching Resource Pack, which is full of everything you need to teach an awesome unit of instruction around throwing and catching skills.
Check out a list of what’s included below:
- Sample Unit Plan
- 4 week throwing and catching unit plan with 50+ pages of awesome games, activities and lessons for your students. Each lesson can be easily aligned with any standards or grade level outcomes you would like to focus on, however we’ve included the most relevant Shape America Grade Level Outcomes in the unit plan.
- Note: this is based on once a week PE for 50 minutes so you might have to modify to fit your situation, but it will give you a good example and starting place.
- 4 week throwing and catching unit plan with 50+ pages of awesome games, activities and lessons for your students. Each lesson can be easily aligned with any standards or grade level outcomes you would like to focus on, however we’ve included the most relevant Shape America Grade Level Outcomes in the unit plan.
- Throwing and Catching Station Signs:
- Printable Station Activity Signs with great illustrations, directions and setup examples to make your next station activity day a huge success
- Throwing and Catching Cues Poster
- This is the same poser you see in the videos in the above post. You can put it up on a screen or print and put on your wall to provide your students with illustrations of correct throwing and catching form and remind them of the correct cue words for the skill
- Fair Games Lesson Resources: A fun lesson where you basically create a carnival in your teaching space and have students earning “tickets” by performing exercises in order to play each of the games
- Fair Games Lesson Plan, Fair Games Printable Station Signs, Explanation Video with examples of setup and how to play each game
- Google Slideshow
- Included is a link to a Google Slideshow with summary slides for each week in the unit and animated GIF slides showing underhand and overhand throwing skills as well as instant activity slides
- Bonus Resources:
- Holiday Themed Printable Throwing Targets , Easy Scorekeeper Cards, Team Number Cards
All members can login and download this resource inside of our members only resource library (info on the membership program here) or if you’re not a member, you can purchase it separately on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking here or below.
Check out the Throwing Unit Resource Pack on TPT
Thanks for reading and I hope that gets you started teaching your students one of the most important skills they can learn – Throwing and Catching!
Related Links:
- If you want to know more about the posters that I hang in our gym you can GO HERE.
- How to Throw a Frisbee (Frisbee Throwing Cues)
Rick Sewall says
The ability to throw a ball is an essential skill for tennis , as the serve motion is a throwing motion and the serve is the most important (and least practiced) tennis skill. If a child throws right handed, he-she should learn to play tennis right handed.
At some point the position of the elbow when throwing should be taught. Total relaxation of the throwing arm when throwing should at least be pointed out at some time.
Marcus says
Great observation Rick!
Thanks for sharing!
You can mention the importance of the elbow when throwing with students, especially those students who are advanced.
We are just trying to get students to throw the ball correctly as many times as possible.
Danielle Reed says
I can’t thank you enough for these amazing tips, resources, and assistance to teach PE. It is my first year and I feel like I am so prepared after watching your videos. Thank you!
Marcus says
You’re so welcome Danielle!
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions along the way! You got this!
Kianne says
What grade levels do you recommend playing Monster Ball and Hula Hut Throwdown? Thank you for everything!
Marcus says
Hey Kianne,
Thanks for reaching out!
We usually play Monster Ball and Hula Hut Throwdown with 2nd – 5th graders, obviously modifying where necessary.
Hope this helps!
Kinley says
Can’t wait to try out my overhand and underhand throw in phy ed
Marcus Nellems says
Good luck!