Athletics - Shot Put, Sprints and Relays

Shot Put

The thing to remember for shot put is...

clean palm, dirty neck

That means the shot put is held in your fingers not your palm, and you hold it up against your neck before PUSHING it away - not throwing it.

Here's a shot of our own Olympic Champion doing the clean palm, dirty neck thing!

Sprints

Keep your eyes on the prize!

Don't look around to see how everyone is getting on. Your brain needs to keep its attention on making you run as fast as you can. When you wibble, wobble along your lane you end up running further and wasting energy adjusting your balance.

Imagine you're a bullet that's just been shot out of a gun.

Relays

All the sprint advice is true for relays too 

and the thing to remember is that you pass the baton from your right hand to your team mate's right hand. Oh - and remember to grab it tight and DON'T let it go until you've passed it on.

High Jump Tips

• Approach the bar from the side.
• Go to the side that works best for YOU!
• Think HIGH - aim ABOVE the bar.
• Decide you CAN do it.
• Run up to the bar.
• Stretch the leg closest to the bar out and up in front of you.
• Scissor the other leg over the bar too.
• Use your arms to help you go higher - this means they won't dangle down and knock the bar off.
• Land on your feet.

Fabulous Futsal Fun

At St Albans School this week the year 3, 4, 5 and 6 children are doing Futsal lessons with Sam from Mainland Football. Each class goes out to the astroturf for half an hour at a time.  Over two weeks each class will have 5 sessions.

During the first session the main skills that the children learnt were to do with dribbling the futsal ball. This ball is a bit smaller and heavier than a soccer ball and not as bouncy. The ball is stuffed with cotton.

When you are dribbling a futsal ball you use six different parts of your foot:

• laces
• inside
• outside
• heel
• toe
• sole

Sam explained that in Futsal the sole is the most important part of your foot. He called it the brake because you use it to stop the ball. As you know exactly where the ball is when your foot is on it, you are able to spend time looking around to see where spaces and other players are.

The children played a number of mini games that made them use different ways to control the ball. After they were able to control it effectively Sam introduced a new challenge. The children had to move from space to space and coloured dot to dot. Some children found it a real challenge NOT to use their hands!

One day perhaps, if everyone keeps practising they will be able to play in a futsal team like Sam.