Beat Your Best: Shot Put Record Cones
A medicine ball shot put competition where nobody competes against anyone else: each student marks a personal record with their own cone, and the team scores every time someone beats it. Students build power and pushing technique and focus on personal improvement.
How to play
- Teams of 4 in throwing lanes about 10 ft wide, each with a 4–6 lb medicine ball and one colored cone per student.
- Baseline round (5 min): each student takes 3 sideways puts and places their cone at the best mark; measure it with a tape and record it.
- Improvement round (8 min): taking turns, each student takes 6 puts; beating their cone earns the team 1 point, and the cone moves up to the new mark.
- Between turns, teammates give the thrower one technique cue (high elbow, drive the back leg, look up at release).
- Final round (5 min): two puts each; beating the record is worth 2 points, and landing within 1 ft of it is worth 1.
- Wrap-up (2 min): each student writes down how many inches they improved over their first mark.
Rules
- Only the student in the circle throws; everyone else waits behind, outside the lane.
- No one steps into the landing area until the last thrower of the turn has gone.
- The ball is pushed from the neck: a baseball-style throw does not count as a record.
- Students compare only against their own mark; no one calls out other students' distances.
Variations
Easier
Use a 2 lb ball and count a tie with the record as a point.
Standard
Use a 4–6 lb ball and score only when the old mark is beaten.
Harder
Put with a glide or a step, and the record must be beaten by at least 8 inches.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student puts seated using the same personal-record system.
- Shyness: the student throws when the lane is quieter and keeps their own record privately.
- Advanced students: they must improve with two balls of different weights in the same round.
Learning goals
- Apply pushing technique to improve a personal best.
- Record and evaluate personal progress objectively.
- Encourage teammates by focusing on their improvement, not on winning.
Equipment for a class of 25
- medicine balls: 7
- cones: 30
- measuring tapes: 7
Teacher tip
This format really motivates students who never win on raw distance, so celebrate records at every level out loud. Check that the cones are placed correctly before each round.
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