Tecchilaw - Let us develop basic athletic skills

Let us see whether you could remember the activities done in the earlier classes like walking, running, jumping and throwing. You would have participated in the activities of the school sports meet by developing these skills in different ways. these activities are developed not only for sports competitions, but also for daily activities as well. By improving them we will be able to lead a healthy life. Through this we can be more efficient in our daily activities.

In this lesson you will learn the proper techniques of walking, running, jumping, throwing, and how they are used in your daily activities. We can develop our talents with proper practice. Practise and experience all the activities given in this lesson, in the playground.

Every healthy person indulges in walking. Furthermore, this is done as an exercise and as a competitive event in athletics. But there may be differences among people when walking. Let us check the differences in walking among friends in the classroom.

Select a classroom or any cemented floor.

Draw a few straight lines with a piece of chalk. Two children get together and one should wet the legs (without shoes) and walk on either side of the line so that the footprint is visible.

The other should examine the foot prints. The rest of the children should walk in the same manner.

When the above foot prints are examined, there can be differences. If the walking was done correctly it should be like the above diagram.

Try to bring back to your memory on the aspects of correct walking which you learnt in your third lesson.

The benefits of correct walking

- Able to live an active life.

- Helps to raise the health condition as it is an exercise.

- Develops a good personality.

- Able to reduce physical injuries and defects when engaging in daily activities or sports.

Activities to practice walking

Select a leader from the class. Get into groups of 8. Each group stands by the side of the starting line. When the leader gives a signal one child from each group walks about 10m forward, comes back and stands at the back of the group. Next another child walks. In the same manner all students should take part in this activity ^Figure 5.3&.
The group holds hands and walks about 10m forward. Comes back to the starting point. Do this activity several times.
Divide the class into 2 groups. The groups form into two lines. Students in one line walk one behind the other along the path as shown in the figure 5.4 and join the line again. Then the next line also walk in the same manner, and join their line. When one line walks, the children in the other line should observe them. Both lines should do the activity at the same time. Increase the speed of the activity and repeat.
Divide the class into 4 groups. Stand in a line one behind the other. Draw two parallel lines 2m apart and place a few marks as shown in figure 5.5. One child at a time walks and comes back to the line in a zigzag manner and taps on the first child’s shoulder. Then walks to the back of the line. The next child in the line follows the same routine. Repeat this activity for everyone.

4. Divide the class into 4 groups. Stand in a line one behind the other. Draw two parallel lines 2m apart and place a few marks as shown in figure 5.5. One child at a time walks and comes back to the line in a zigzag manner and taps on the first child’s shoulder. Then walks to the back of the line. The next child in the line follows the same routine. Repeat this activity for everyone.

We run for different purposes in our day to day life. What happens with running is that the real distance is reached within a short time. There are many running events in athletics. Running is important for different types of games. Running is a good exercise for the body.

When running, the hands and feet move in a rhythmic pattern. While the right leg moves with the left arm, the left leg with the right arm move in the same direction. While exchanging the feet and running forward, hands swing forwards and backwards. The upper arm is bent at the elbow at an angle of about 90 degrees. Engaging in running exercises helps to increase the speed.

The main difference between walking and running is that, during running both feet will be above the ground at a certain moment of time. There is an instance where, both feet will be in the air at the same time.

Activities to practise running

Appoint a leader for this activities.

Form lines consisting of 8 or 10 students. Mark the starting line and within a distance of 30m mark the finishing line. The first row of students come to the starting line. They start running slowly at the leader’s command. They run up to the finishing line. Then come back walking and stand at the back of the line. Now the second row runs. All indulge in this activity in the same manner. Then within the same boundary run forward raising your knee. As earlier, go to the back of the line. All should practise this activity. Then run with your feet touching your back. All should do this activity as said above (Figure 5.7).

2. Do this with the help of the other activities you have already learnt. Draw lines as shown below in the playground with a gap of about 10m. Form lines as above. When the leader signals, start running from the starting line to the AA line. Then walk till the BB line. Again run, walk and go to the back of the line. Each student should engage in this activity at least 3 times ^figure 5.8&.

Let us put it into practice

List the similarities and differences between running and walking.

When we do our daily chores we need to jump at different instances.

Jumping is done in different directions. That is, the ability to jump forwards, upwards, sideways, backwards, etc. When jumping, the flight can be done single legged or with both legs. Landing on the ground also can be done single legged or with both legs. Here the following details should be considered.

Details to be considered when landing

- Fold the knees when bringing the body down

- Landing on the soles

- Safeguarding the balance

It should be noted that the landing should not be done with legs straight.

These different kinds of jumps are used in sports and day-to-day activities. High jump and long jump are seen mostly as sports.

Activities to practise jumping

1. Mark three lines with a two feet gap in between. Children should stand one behind the other in four lines. Make them stand one at a time and jump over these lines and come back to their line. Repeat this activity several times. Do the above activity with one leg. Adjust the distance to suit the length of their jumps. (figure 5.10)

2. Draw a line in the playground. Then jump across the line in a zigzag manner with a single foot and then with both feet. Indulge in activities consisting of the jumping skills you learnt above.

3. Select three children with three different levels of height (short, medium height and tall). Ask each child to stand against a wall outside the class and tell them to raise one hand. Put a mark at the level of the tip of the finger. Ask each student to come in a line, jump up with both legs and touch the wall and observe the level each one could achieve. Give every child another attempt to jump and improve on the first mark.

4. Divide class into two teams as A and B. Group A forms a circle. Group B stays inside the circle. Number the students in circle (A) (1-15). When the child in the circle calls out a number, the child bearing the respective number hops in and chases the students in circle trying to catch them. Anyone caught in that manner or going out of the circle is disqualified and they have to stand outside the circle. The ones who hop are disqualified when they keep their leg down or change it. Then the ones in the centre, call out another number. When one whole team gets disqualified the two teams exchange their roles. This can be done as a competition. This game can be done within a specific time limit or till everyone is disqualified.

5. Indulge in the hopscotch game learnt in Lesson four.

Throwing is involved in games and athletics and it is done by everybody from infancy. People who lived in ancient times hunted animals for food by throwing objects to kill the animal. Thus, man has used the throwing function for a very long period of time.In athletics rules and regulations have been implemented for these throws in a methodical way. Different types of throws can be seen, such as, throws in front of the body, sideways of the body, above the head and above the shoulders.

Points to be considered when throwing

• The technique of throwing depends on the equipment used.

• Maintain the balance of the body after the throw.

• Consider your safety as well as the safety of others when throwing.

Activities to practise throwing

1. Get a few soft cricket balls and throw it forward, single handed, overhead, as far as possible.

2. About ten children stand in two lines at a suitable space. As shown in the diagram below, throw tennikoit rings from one person to the other. If necessary increase the distance between the two lines and restart throwing. Small bicycle tyres could be substituted for tennikoit rings. Everyone in the class should take part in this activity

3. Mark a spot. Place four tins, one on top of the other about 1m ahead from the spot. Keep a child on a marked spot with a tennis or rubber ball in hand. Ask the child to break the four tins by throwing the ball. Marks can be given to the child according to the number of throws. Do this activity by changing the distance.

Now we know....

Engaging in walking, running and jumping in the correct manner paves the way to lead an efficient life with minimum accidents and injuries and improve the skills for athletic.

When walking using the correct technique firstly the heel touches the ground and finally the toes. During running, at a given moment of time both legs would be above the ground. But during walking one foot should always be touching the ground.

Different types of jumps could be seen in our day to day life. Safety should be considered when landing after a jump.

There are different types of throws such as overhead, sideways, forwards, etc.,You should consider your safety as well as the safety of others when throwing.