There are many skills that are considered essential for children to learn at a young age – swimming, bike riding, skating. But what about throwing and catching? Often overlooked for milestone accomplishments, throwing and catching should not be underestimated.
In this blog we discuss the dynamics, benefits and best practices of throwing and catching, as well as share some activities to build skills in this department.
What is throwing and catching?
Throwing and catching are complementary skills, yet are quite different in terms of their movement focus. In catching, the body controls an object, relying on the ability of the eyes to track the object in motion and the hands to capture it mid-air into the receiving part of the body, without it falling on the ground. Throwing involves propelling an object away from the body with the hand using efficient and correct technique.
Each embodying a distinctive action, catching is a control skill and throwing is a target skill requiring a unique set of movements and thinking for ample execution, spanning focus, coordination, and body placement.
Benefits of throwing and catching skills
Throwing and catching form the foundation of many sports and physical activities, allowing children to engage in movement throughout their education and beyond, and reap the physical, social, emotional and mental benefits of doing so.
Throwing and catching also help develop crucial skills that play an important part in everyday function, including:
- integrated movement
- visual perception and control
- learning about gravity and properties of objects
- the ability to react and concentrate
- hand-eye coordination
- fine motor skills
- gross motor skills
- sensory skills.
Crucial for physical and cognitive development and participation in various activities, throwing and catching are essential skills with lifelong benefits.
Best practice for catching and throwing
While anyone can instinctively catch and throw, there are certain strategies and techniques to help ensure it’s smooth, safe and successful.
Here are some learning cues to help you nail catching and throwing:
Catching
- Eyes focused on the object until contact is made
- Feet move to place body in line with object
- Secure a wide base of support
- Relaxed hands move to meet the object
- Present a large surface area to catch e.g. fingers spread, hands in cup formation
- Catch and control the object with hands only
- Elbows bend to absorb the force of the object
Throwing
- Eyes focused on target
- Grasp the object with one or two hands (depending on shape and size)
- Stand facing or side-on to target
- Take your arm way back so that momentum builds for the throw
- Propel object forward using body weight transfer
- Swing through – long arm at release
- Follow through with throwing arm towards target
Activities to help build throwing and catching skills
Want to help your little ones build their throwing and catching skills? Here are some activities, requiring minimal equipment, to help you do just that:
In The Basket
Using a laundry basket as the target, this game involves throwing pairs of rolled up socks into the basket using different techniques and challenges. (The benefit of using rolled up socks is that they won’t bounce out of the basket.) Try overarm, underarm, left arm, right arm, and moving closer and further away from the basket to build a broad range of abilities.
Balloon Catch
Balloons aren’t just fascinating to look at – they have a gentle fall rate and large surface area, making them a brilliant launchpad for learning to catch. To play Balloon Catch, start by throwing the ball to your kid and getting them to catch it. Once they’ve nailed this, encourage them to complete both actions – throwing the balloon up in the air above their head and then catching it.
Tennis Ball Throwing and Catching
With a tennis ball or a pair of rolled up socks, start throwing it up in the air and then catching it. Start off with small throws and two hand catches. Once you have that down, challenge yourself to do bigger throws. If you drop the ball, make the throws smaller again. Repeat using your right hand then left hand, to work both sides of the body.
Conclusion
Throwing and catching underpin many physical activities and aid in physical and cognitive development. Learning how to throw and catch, effectively and with confidence, is something that everyone should learn from a young age for its invaluable lifelong benefits.