Striking
Striking is the most complex of the fundamental movement skills. A form of striking is used in many sports; tennis, teeball, cricket, hockey and golf. Although they all differ, the same mechanical principles apply across all of them. Striking can be introduced in the Foundation year and by Year 2 most children should be able to demonstrate a two-handed strike. Most children will not instinctively know how to demonstrate a two-handed strike.
Teaching cues
- Hands together
- Ready: stand side on to the ball (use markers to assist)
- Eyes on the ball
- Step & Swing – step with the front foot towards the target (use a marker to step on to)
Teaching strategies
- Focus on standing side on to the ball and having eyes on the ball
- Use hands as your striking implement to start with and hit balloons or soft balls hanging from trees
- Next try using pool noodles for a bat and hitting large soft balls
- Use dome cones as a tee
- Use foot markers as a guide for where children should stand
- Hitting medium sized soft balls off small cricket tees is an excellent way to introduce striking
- Focus on distance over accuracy
- Play games such as Noodle Run and Pirate Treasure
- Move on to teeball tees and smaller balls such as tennis balls
- Encourage children to step towards the target with their front foot, use markers to help with this (step & squash the cone)
- Focus on children striking the ball as hard as possible and following through with bat around the body
- Place targets further away and play games such as Rapid Fire and Fetch Cricket
- Introduce accuracy challenges
- Try hitting a moving or thrown ball
- Try games that employ some strategy - 6 Or Safe and Golden Child or Diamond Cricket
Skill criteria
- Stand side-on to target
- Eyes on ball
- Hands next to each other, bottom hand matches the front foot (teeball)
- Step towards target with front foot
- Hips then shoulders rotate forward
- Ball contact made on the front foot with straight arms
- Follows through with bat around body
Common errors
- Incorrect grip – hands apart or the wrong way around
- Standing front on to the target
- Not stepping
- No weight transfer
- No follow-through
- Not watching the ball
Skill usage