Movement skills/concepts
Striking a ball with an implement, underarm throw for accuracy, overarm throw for accuracy, fielding a small ball, and running.
Set-up
One small ball, one short implement (bat/racquet), six markers, and team bands/bibs. Two teams of approximately six-eight players each: the batting team is lined up safely back from the baseline, and the fielding team is scattered out in the field of play, with one member as a pitcher.
Activity
The pitcher lobs to the batter, who attempts to hit the ball. The batter then tries to score a run by running to the far line and back. They may wait as long as they like behind the far line for a chance to return. The fielders try to put the other team out by tagging a batter with the ball while they are running. A fielder may throw the ball to another fielder nearer to the batter in an attempt to do this.
The batting team is out if:
- a running batter is hit with the ball
- a fielder catches a hit on the full
- a batter hits the ball over the sidelines on the full or so that it bounces out before it reaches halfway up the field of play
- a running batter goes over either of the sidelines
When there is an ‘out’, the umpire calls (or signals) ‘Change’ and the teams change over but, if a member of the team that has just finished batting can retrieve the ball and tag a player from the other team before they are safely behind the baseline or far line, the old batting team is ‘in’ again. This can happen several times.
Other rules:
- fielders may not hold the ball for more than 3 seconds
- once a waiting runner puts a foot into the field of play, they must run
- when a team is back ‘in’ again after successfully tagging during a ‘change’, all players return to where they were before the ‘out’ or, if they were running at the time, go behind the line to start their run again; the person who out joined the batting line
