Personal Best Team Combined Events
A four-event combined meet in which each student competes against their own marks from an earlier class and earns points for their team with every improvement. Students work on personal growth, teamwork and pacing their effort across several events.
How to play
- 5 teams of 5 in pinnies; each student has a card with last class's marks in the 30 m dash, standing broad jump, medicine ball chest pass for distance and a 6 x 10 m shuttle run (2 min).
- Set up 4 stations with cones and explain scoring: 1 point for matching a mark, 2 for beating it and 3 if the improvement is more than 5% (2 min).
- Teams rotate through the stations every 6 minutes; each student gets 2 tries per station, and a different teammate times or measures each time (24 min).
- At each station, the team writes each student's best mark on the card and works out their points before rotating (part of the rotation).
- At the end, each team adds up its points; the team with the most improvement wins, not the one with the best marks (1 min).
Rules
- At the throwing station, the ball is thrown on the timer's signal and nobody stands in the landing area.
- Teammates who time and measure must be honest; a questionable mark is redone.
- Rotate on the teacher's signal even if not all tries are finished.
Variations
Easier
Use 3 events and award 1 point for every try done with correct form.
Standard
4 events with points for matching or beating the previous mark.
Harder
Add a 600 m run at the end, with improvement points doubled in that event.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: the student does adapted versions (seated throw, 30 m in a wheelchair, jump replaced by a backward overhead toss) with their own baseline marks.
- Shyness: marks are shared only within the team, never announced to the whole class.
- Students with no previous mark: the first round sets the baseline and the second one counts for points.
Learning goals
- Beat their own marks in several track and field events.
- Record and compare performance data on their own.
- Help the team result through individual effort.
Equipment for a class of 25
- cones: 20
- measuring tape: 3
- stopwatch: 4
- medicine balls: 3
- score cards: 25
- pens: 5
- pinnies: 25
Teacher tip
This scoring is very motivating for lower-performing students, since they can score as much as the fastest runner.
PatioLab has "Personal Best Team Combined Events" and 2499 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More main activities for High School
1-2-3-2-1 Running Pyramid Intervals
An interval workout where the fast segments build from 1 to 3 minutes and back down, with half that time as jogging recovery.
1-on-1 Self-Pass Volleyball
One-on-one games on narrow 10 x 20 foot courts where each player must self-pass before sending the ball over.
10-20-30 interval running in pairs
The 10-20-30 method strings together 30 seconds of easy jogging, 20 at a moderate pace and 10 at top speed, in five-minute blocks.
1v1 Ball Volley Matches
1v1 ball volley: singles games on a small court with a low net, hitting the ball over the net and allowing one bounce.
2-on-1 Fast Break with a Chasing Defender
Two attackers push a fast break against a defender waiting at the basket while a second defender chases from behind with a few yards' head start against them.
2-on-1 Through Three Defensive Zones
Pairs of attackers cross the court through three zones, each with a defender who cannot leave it, and finish with a shot on goal.