Pitching velocity is a crucial factor in effective baseball pitching performance. Upper-body-focused training is prevalent in baseball training to increase pitching velocity. However, significant pitchers, including youth league baseball players, suffer from upper body injuries due to the heavy training load of the throwing arm. This article…

This article explores the potential of video-based strategies to enhance learning in K-12 online physical education (OLPE), namely: video instruction, analysis, and feedback. Video instructions can optimize attention and effectively promote independent practice of motor skills when they are short, focused, and contain expert demonstrations. Video…

In this series of two articles, we connect complexity theoretical frameworks of ecological dynamics and enactivism to initiatives for learning to play tennis advocated by USTA and Tennis Canada. These initiatives were inspired by the International Tennis Federation commitment to reduce the complexity of learning tennis by rescaling the game for…

The improvement and mastery of balance has been considered an important motor-skill concept for children in the past and incorporating new dynamic balance routines in the curriculum could lead to positive outcomes in children's motor development. This article describes dynamic balance routines and drills that can be used as a unit to promote…

In today's physical education classroom, many teachers feel starved for fresh, innovative activities to teach. This article presents team handball (TH) as one such activity. Although TH is not a new activity (it was first played toward the end of the 19th century in countries such as Denmark, Germany and Sweden), for many students in the United…

This article supports the use of strategy and tactics at games stage three (how to teach basic offensive and defensive strategy using small-sided games) as a best practices in physical education. Potential learning through game stages three and four (full-sided games) is only possible when teachers have advanced content knowledge to teach the…

All physical educators want to provide lessons that foster success. Particularly essential to the movement education framework is not only providing lessons that foster motor success, but also to develop knowledge about movement to help the learner develop skill in executing all different types of movement. The framework and examples provided in…

With childhood obesity and physical inactivity at an all-time high, parents and physical educators alike must look to the early years to promote competent and confident young movers. Popular opinion believes that children are naturally active and motor skill development progresses as a normal function of getting older. However, if one looks at…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, research indicates that today's children are not getting enough physical activity. One solution to this problem is to integrate other subjects into physical education. This article describes a successful physical education program for Pre-K children implemented at the Sheboygan Area…

Fitness testing is an important assessment tool used by physical educators for many purposes. Some states require fitness testing to monitor individual student progress throughout the school year. Some physical educators use it to monitor the effects of the physical education curriculum and to teach concepts such as goal setting and personal…

Technology tools that are used to help apply standards and benchmarks motivate physical educators to use new methods of teaching, and create new ways to provide students with direct formative feedback, the number one motivator for students. Direct formative feedback refers to verbal communication between the teacher and/or parent and student. The…

This article focuses on standards specific to Domain 3: Physical Preparation and Conditioning of the National Standards for Sport Coaches (NASPE, 2004b). It discusses program design concepts that coaches can apply to prepare athletes for the demands of their sport, and is based on both research and best professional practice. Sport preparation has…

In this article, the author discusses two strategies--visual cues (modeling) and verbal cues (short, accurate phrases) which are related to teaching motor skills in maximizing learning in physical education classes. Both visual and verbal cues are strong influences in facilitating and promoting day-to-day learning. Both strategies reinforce…

Recreational games can be incorporated into physical education programs to encourage play and activity among students during their leisure time. Students can play their own games during recess, before or after school, during intramural programs, or in their neighborhood with family and friends. This article describes five such games namely:…

Educators now understand that new methods of representing and reproducing knowledge are emerging. Using only a single mode of communication to teach may limit a student's ability to engage in the topic and remember what is being taught. Sign language is a visual language and it is also kinesthetic--two traits that make it especially useful in…