1. Attempt to catch a ball that has been hit in the air.
2. Restrict runs by fielding effectively.
3. Identify how to position to cover more space.

Skill Development: Catching a ball from the air

1. I can choose positions to stand in as a three to limit runs scored
2. I can move towards a ball that is in the air and be ready to catch it.
3. I can try and catch a high ball

Mastering catching skills with the ball falling from height.

L Describe how as a three you can cover the most space when fielding.

N Keep count of runs scored and work out which team is the winning team.

Each pupil needs a foam tennis ball, or a low bounce tennis ball and an area of wall they can use to throw the ball against.

• The objective is to increase confidence to catch the ball from height.  However, start the pupils just simply practising throwing the ball against the wall and catching it and drawing it into their body from waist/chest height.
• As they gain confidence task them to throw the ball a little higher, working towards head height and above.  Allow them to experiment with how to catch the ball as it rebounds from height.
• Introduce the two options for catching a higher ball (see teaching points)

Working in threes. One player feeds the ball into the air (underarm throw).  A second player with a hoop tries to move so the ball passes through the hoop as it comes down (use bigger or smaller hoops depending on ability). The third player collects balls as it rolls off.

Rotate through roles so the ball collector becomes the feeder, the feeder becomes the player receiving with the hoop and the player with the hoop becomes a ball collector. The feeder should be trying to throw the ball fairly high above the catchers head. The player receiving has to track it in the air.

Progress the activity so that now the receiver attempts to catch the ball with their hands as it is coming back down.

Play this game 3 v 3. A striker, using an underarm throw, throws a ball to a zone that has 3 fielders. After throwing the ball, the strikers need to score runs by running around the bases.

The fielders need to return the ball to the starting base to stop the striker from scoring runs. If a fielder catches the ball from the air, then the striker scores no runs.

Swap the teams over so that both teams can strike and field. Encourage fielders to try and catch the ball when it is in the air so that the strikers get fewer runs. Play either timed innings or each player has 3 goes at striking before swapping.

Development: Fielders could have hoops like in skill development activity to ‘catch’ players out. Or allow one bounce before catching someone ‘out’.

Challenge: Fielders start by standing behind the zone so would have to move forward to catch the ball.

to catch a high ball.

Catching 

• Palms up with pinky fingers touching
• Cup your hands to create space for the ball to rest
• Keep hands soft
• Absorb the ball into the hands and wrap fingers around
• Bring the ball into the body so as not to drop it
• The higher the ball you may have to move and stop back so the ball drops in at chest height, rather than trying to catch overhead which is a more difficult skill

1. Did you keep score to see which team scored the most runs?
2. How did you try to score maximum runs?
3. Why does catching the ball mean a player does not get any runs?