A Flying Disc Progression

 The Pangrazi book contains a lot of lead up games, but sometimes the things they lead to aren't so obvious.  Here's a series of activities that I use to build flying disc skills.

The first, and to me, absolutely most important step is to use good equipment.  It is critical to use equipment that is easy for kids to use.  The best flying disc I've found is the Aerobie superdisc.  They are easy to throw long and straight and have soft edges so kids aren't afraid to catch them.

Aerobie® Superdisc - 10" Diameter (EA)

Our first activity is to play catch.  After giving the class brief instructions on how to throw and catch a disc, I let the kids form their own groups and find their own space.  This enables kids to learn at their own pace and allows me to roam the class to provide individual instruction where needed.  Once the kids have are comfortable with their abilities (one or two days for younger kids, a one day refresher for older kids), we move on to a game called "Double Disc".

Double Disc is a very simple game which addresses two concepts that younger kids have trouble understanding:  spacing and moving to catch an object.

For a class of 20, I use a rectangular field about 100' by 75'.  The field is split in half with a clearly marked mid line.  The class is split into two teams with each team confined to half the field.  Each team is given a disc.  The object of the game is simply for each team to land their disc in the other team's half of the field while trying to catch the discs being thrown by the opposite team. . A point is scored each time a disc lands in an opposing team's territory.

If only a few kids dominate the action, add more discs or start a second game.  Larger classes can be divided into four teams with 2 discs each on two fields.

My experience with this game is that kids naturally learn to anticipate the flight of the disc and make running catches.  They also learn to throw with greater accuracy and creativity, including banking discs into a target.

These two activities comprise a one week disc unit.  Sometime after this unit, I'll move on to the second stage, disc golf.

For this unit, I use a mock Ryder Cup format.  Here, each class is divided into a "European" team and an "American" team.  Team members are given playing partners and partners a given a pair of opponents from the opposite team, creating a foursome.  All groups play on a 9 hole course with a shotgun start. 

This is a four day competition in which each pair playing a different opponent each day.  Three different scoring formats are used:  Alternate Shot, Best Throw (twice) and Singles.  Scoring is by holes, not throws.  Match winners earn 1 point for their team.  Ties earn 1/2 point for both teams.

The final disc unit, done in the spring, is Ultimate Disc.  This is one of my favorite team activities to teach because it is a game for which there are no youth leagues, meaning that no student has a built in advantage.  This allows kids to compete equally.  Each year, previously unheralded students star in this game.

One important note:  as in every team involving throwing and catching object to score, the boy/girl rule (a boy and a girl must catch a throw before a score counts) is in force.  This is a very effective way of insuring equal opportunity, generating team strategy and allowing all students a chance to succeed.

Mill Valley Middle School 7th Grade Girls Basketball

This is one of the things I did last winter.....

10 Favorite Sports Books

In keeping with the season, that is, the end of the year 10 best list writing season, here's my list of my 10 favorite sports books of all time (subject to change, of course).

10.  Moneyball, by Michael Lewis.

The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and how he is able to keep his team in contention each year despite a limited budget.  Best chapter for me is right at the beginning, where Beane and his scouts go through their list of prospects for the upcoming draft.  Beane's first question about each prospect; "What's his makeup?"  This told me that for Beane, as it should be for any coach, strong character is the quality most prized in any player.

9.  My Losing Season, by Pat Conroy

Before he became a best selling author ("The River is Wide", "The Great Santini", "Beaches", Conroy was a basketball player at the Citadel.

8.  Lance Armstrong's War, by Daniel Coyle

A very revealing book, not only of the enigmatic Armstrong, but of the whole professional cycling culture.

7.  You Gotta Have Wa, by Leonard Whiting

The story of Americans playing professional baseball in Japan.  Uses the game of baseball to demonstrate the differences between American and Japanese society.  Funny and enlightening.

6.  Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger

The author follows the fortunes of one high school football team in Texas and in so doing reveals the depth to which the sport affects the entire state.

5.  The Miracle of St. Anthony,  by Adrian Wojnarowski

Amazing story of one high school's basketball season.  How the coach and two nuns singlehandedly keep the school, in a poor neighborhood, in an old building with no heat and no gym, in operation, and how the coach, despite the hardships, manages to have a successful season and get most of players into college, too.

4.  Playing for Keeps, Michael Jordan and the World He Made, by David Halberstam

A book about Michael Jordan's basketball career and how he changed the entire sports industry.

3.  The Match, by Mark Frost

One millionaire, Eddie Lowery, bets another, George Coleman, that two of his employees, Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward, can beat any two golfers that Coleman can find in a match.  Coleman comes up with a team of Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the two best professionals of the era.  The story of the match is great, but so is the author's use of the setting to describe the state of the country and the world of golf at that time.

2.  Seasbiscuit,  by Laura Hillenbrand

A fascinating account of how a run of the mill horse became one of the greatest thoroughbreds in history and the greatest hero of his time at a time, the Great Depression, when he was needed most.

1.  Heaven is a Playground, by Rick Telander

A white sportswriter from Chicago decides to go to Brooklyn for a few days to write an article on black street basketball.  He ends up staying for the whole summer.