For the past two weeks, I have been working on catching and throwing with our LD students. What may seem natural and easy to us, can be very challenging to a beginner. Breaking down the process into progressions and adding learning cues helps to link cognitive and psychomotor objectives, which in turn strengthens skill acquisition. For example, having students write their name in the air helps them to easily recognize which hand is their dominant hand, and the letter "L" gives students a familiar shape to mimic when positioning the throwing arm. Progressions begin with students throwing into open space while experimenting with throwing the ball high and low. Corrective and positive feedback is given with special attention placed on correct foot placement and beginning arm position.
Catching with a glove is a student favorite. There is something very appealing about putting a leather monstrosity on your hand and trying to snag a ball out of the air. The first step may seem silly, but many students instinctively put the glove on their throwing hand, after all that is the hand they are most comfortable catching with too. Modeling catching the ball with the wrong hand and then having to take the glove off to throw is powerful in explaining why we catch with our non-dominant hand. The "web" or "pocket" of the glove is highlighted because of its importance and is likened to a Venus Flytrap. The students love to imagine that the ball is a bug and their hungry glove is just waiting to devour it the second it touches the pouch.
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