Watching and intercepting a rolled ball
Goal
The child is able to catch and pick up a ball that is rolled either directly to the front, or a meter to the left and the right from a distance of 4 meters, 80
Assessment task
Let the child stand on a 40 cm sq non-slip mat, about . Stand facing the child holding a soccer sized ball, at a distance of 3-4 meters, 10 trials out of 15.
Tell the child that you are going to roll the ball towards him/her and she must catch the ball with two hands and throw it back to you.
First roll the ball directly towards the child, 5 times. Observe the child: is she paying attention to you throwing actions and does she manage to track the ball as it comes closer?
If the child is able to catch the ball at least three out of 5 trials, then roll it a meter either to the left or right of the child, another 10 trials.
If the child is able to catch the ball when it is rolled slowly, increase the speed a little and observe if she is still able to catch the rolled ball.
The child may step forwards or to the side to catch the ball.
Outcomes
Achieved: Child is successful 10 out of 15 trials and is able to
Goal not achieved Child does not manage to catch the rolled ball, especially if it is rolled a little faster.
Teach
The most common reason for a child not being able to catch a rolled ball is failure to anticipate the direction and speed of the ball, and so is not able to move the hands forwards at the right time to the right place. The child fails to watch the person rolling the ball, is not able to predict the direction and speed of the ball based on this observation, or may not visually track the ball as it comes closer.
Often a short teaching session, in which the child is instructed to watch the thrower as she throws the ball will overcome this difficulty.
The thrower can draw attention to the ball in her hand by tossing it up and down once or twice, then give the command "watch the ball in my hand" before rolling it.
Does this brief intervention make a big difference? Or will the child needs more time practicing this activity.
Catching a bounced soccer sized ball.
Task goal
By the age of five a child should be is able to catch a ball that is bounced a little way ahead of the child so that it can be caught in the midline with two hands at about waist height.
Assessment task
Let the child stands on a 40 cm square non-slip mat. Stand facing the child holding a soccer sized ball, at a distance of 3-4 meters.
Tell the child that you are going to bounce the ball to him, and that he should catch it with both hands and then bounce it back to you again. he ball should be caught between the two hands and not touch the chest. .
Bounce the ball to the child so that it can easily be caught in the midline a little way in front of the body. Do this quite slowly to start with, then speed the action up a little.
Observe the direction of the child's gaze. Does he watch your actions as you bounce the ball? Does he shift his gaze to the place where the ball is expected to bounce and then visually track the ball as he moves the hands to catch the ball.
If the child does not succeed in catching the ball on most trails, does the success rate improve if you prime him to watch your actions as you throw the ball?
Does the child catch the ball between the hands, or does he scoop the ball to the chest?
Does he hold the hands apart just enough as he prepares to catch the ball? Do the fingers extend just prior to moving the hands towards the ball?
Catching a soccer sized ball
Task goal
By the age of 5 years a child should be able to catch a soccer sized ball thrown so that it can be caught just ahead of the body in the midline, or 30-40 cm to the right or lift of the midline
Assessment task
Let the child stands on a 40 cm square non-slip mat. Stand facing the child holding a soccer sized ball, at a distance of 3-4 meters.
Tell the child that you are going to throw the ball to her, and that she should catch it between the two hands, and that the ball should not touch her chest.
Throw the ball to the child at a moderate pace so that it can be caught just ahead of the body in the midline.
If the child is able to catch the ball in the midline, throw the ball about 30-40 cm to the left and right of the midline and note the success rate.
A child with good ball skills is able to catch the ball successfully at least 7 out of 10 trials.
If the child has difficulty catching the ball you can adapt the task to make it easier.
Prime the child before you throw the ball to get her to pay attention to your throwing action: "Are you ready: watch my hands throwing the ball."
Let the child stand with the hands lifted to chest height, facing each other and at a distance that is just more than the diameter of the ball. This simplifies the movements that need to be made to catch the ball between the hands.
Does this change in start position improve the success rate?
Catching a tennis ball with two hands
If the child can catch a soccer sized ball thrown to the midline and to the side, the next step is to assess catching a tennis ball.
Follow the same steps as you did for catching a soccer sized ball, throwing the tennis ball first to the midline, then to either side. Start by throwing the ball relatively slowly, then speed up the throwing action.
If the child is not able to catch a tennis ball, assess whether starting with the hands lifted to chest height, and ready to catch the ball improves catching success.
Step and catch
The next level of ball catching skills is to be able to catch a ball when the trajectory passes outside of the peri-personal (reachable) body space, so that the child needs to take a step in order to catch the ball.
This action requires complex integration of leg, trunk and arm movements to translate the body
Goal
By the age of 6-7 years a child is able to catch a medium sized or tennis ball that passes so far to the side that one or more steps need to be takes the catch the ball successfully.
Task
Stand facing the child holding a soccer sized (or smaller ball) at a distance of 4-5 meters. Throw the ball so that it bounces (or passes) so far to the left ot right of the child that she has to take one or more steps to catch the ball.
Vary the distance and direction that the child needs to move the catch the ball, and the velocity of the ball to give an indication of the level of skill needed and what needs to be practiced. The level of skill that the child needs to achieve will depend on the child's personal ball skill goals and the demands of the environment where these skills will be used,such as a game of dodge ball, cricket, rounders or netball.)
Increasing complexity - catching a ball from different positions
In many games the position of the person throwing will change, so that the ball will approach the receiver from different directions.This means that the visual information available for predicting the balls trajectory and velocity becomes more complex, and the ability to detect patterns and select appropriate visual information requires more practice.
The child also needs to learn to adjust the orientation of the body to catch balls approaching from different directions.
Task goal
A child of 6-7 years is able to catch a ball thrown from different directions to the left and right of the body.