How Much Do Your Legs Add? Shot Seated, Kneeling and Standing

Students push a medicine ball from three positions (seated, kneeling and standing) and compare the distances. Each one discovers how much the legs and hips add to the throw.

How to play

1. Explain the question and form groups of three: thrower, measurer and retriever (2 min).
2. Seated on a mat: two-hand chest push, two attempts; mark the best with a cone (6 min).
3. Kneeling: same push, two attempts, new cone (6 min).
4. Standing in the power position: one-hand push from the neck, two attempts, third cone (6 min).
5. Compare the three cones and draw a group conclusion: where does the power come from? (5 min).

Rules

• Push into a clear sector, all groups side by side.
• The retriever waits for the bounce and stays out of the path.
• Use the same ball in all three positions.
• Compare with yourself, not with others.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair user: compare arms-only push with a trunk-turn push from the chair.
• Visual impairment: the measurer describes out loud where each ball landed relative to the cones.
• Knee injury: skips the kneeling position.

Learning goals

• Test how much legs and trunk contribute to a throw.
• Measure and compare your own results.
• Apply the conclusion to shot put technique.

Equipment for a class of 25

• medicine balls: 10
• cones: 30
• measuring tape: 5
• mats: 10
• score sheets: 10

Teacher tip

It's not about who throws farthest but about the gap between each student's own cones. Run it after the shot-from-the-neck lesson and the jump in distance when standing up usually convinces them more than any explanation.

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