Each category has three distinct phases: take off, flight and landing. 

1. Jumping for height, or the vertical jump, involves jumping as high as possible from a standing position.  In order to achieve maximum height, it is important that the legs and arms work together to generate as much force as possible.  Jumping for height can be applied in a range of contexts, such as gymnastics, dance, jumping for a ball in volleyball, basketball and  gaelic football, or attempting to get something down from the top shelf in the kitchen.

2. Jumping for distance, or the horizontal jump, involves jumping forwards as far as possible from two feet, landing on two feet.  This jump is important in identifying a pupil’s ability to use timing and rhythm to successfully coordinate both legs and arms, which dictates the distance of the jump.  Jumping for distance plays a considerable role in many playground games such as hopscotch, and is a core skill of both gymnastics and dance.  It is also a baseline skill used in a range of sport specific activities such as long jump, triple jump and aquatics.

Things to consider

As landing is one of the three key components of jumping, the skill of landing itself should be treated as a prerequisite to jumping.  Information on landing can be found in the ‘stability’ section of this resource.  Also in terms of safety, there can be a large amount of force transferred in a forward direction when jumping for distance.  Ensure there is enough free space, that the ground isn’t wet or slippy and the footwear worn has adequate grip to allow for a safe landing.

The ability to land safely is a hugely important fundamental movement skill.  This section will focus on landing on the feet.  As one of the three phases of jumping, landing should always be taught first to ensure pupils return safely to the ground without injury.  The skill involves absorbing force over a large area, usually the legs or hands for a prolonged period of time.  This force should be absorbed over as large an area or distance as possible with the joints bending to absorb the force.  We use landing in a wide range of activities, jumping to catch a ball in gaelic football, vaulting in gymnastics or from jumping off the bed.

Things to consider

As mentioned in the description above, landing is an essential prerequisite to jumping. Developing the ability to absorb the force of a landing ensures that there is less impact and thus less opportunity for injury.  Ensure that pupils are wearing adequate footwear, that shoelaces are tied at all times and that the playing area is cleared of any potential trip hazards.

Balance is essential for all physical development and is a prerequisite  for almost every movement skill.  It is sub-divided into two categories:  

1.  Static balance: the ability to maintain a static position throughout a movement (e.g. a handstand in gymnastics).

 2.  Dynamic balance: controlling the body when moving (e.g. keeping the body stable while kicking a football).

This resource focuses on the single leg static balance (T-balance).  All movements require some form of static balance, which is managed through effective posture and a combination of muscular contraction and relaxation.  When balancing on one leg, the centre of gravity needs to be over the base of support.  If a body part is extended away from this centre of gravity, then the body needs to compensate with an extension in the opposition direction, thus maintaining the centre of gravity over the base to keep the balance stable.  The wider the base of support, then the easier it is to balance.  The single leg static balance has a small support base so it is essential to first begin with large-based balances as a prerequisite to this skill.

Things to consider

Always ensure that pupils have enough personal space when performing a balance.  It is recommended that pupils are only introduced to apparatus once they have reached the mastering stage of developing the skill of balancing.

Catching is a manipulative skill that is closely associated with throwing, yet extremely different in nature.  Relying on the ability of the eye to track an object, the skill involves absorbing and controlling the force of the object with a part of the body, usually the hands.  Balance is also fundamental to the skill of catching--a wide and low stable base is necessary along with positioning the body in line with the flight of the object. Good balance is essential for successful catching in the early stages of development.  The ability to catch is vital in order to play a wide range of games such as gaelic football, basketball, rugby, hurling, baseball, rhythmic gymnastics and playground games.  A pupil’s inability to catch becomes evident to their peers extremely quickly, so plenty of opportunities to play and practise with objects of different sizes is essential to develop proficiency. 

Things to consider
Contrary to general perception, it is far better to initially teach the catch using smaller objects.  Learning to catch large objects, then moving to smaller objects can be detrimental to developing proficient catching technique because it encourages the use of the arms and chest to trap the object.  It takes on average five years to become proficient at catching so pupils should be exposed to as many opportunities to practise the skill as possible.

The manipulative skill of throwing goes hand in hand with catching, and involves propelling an object away from the body.  This important fundamental movement skill has many variations, including the underhand throw, overhand throw, roll and the two handed throw. This resource focuses on the overhand throw, as many of its principles may be applied to the other variations.  Concepts such as weight transference, generating force, developing a swinging motion and momentum are all important when learning to throw.  The skill is used in a wide range of activities such as throwing a javelin, serving in volleyball, chest pass in basketball, rolling in lawn bowls, pitching in baseball or throwing a paper airplane.

Things to consider

While throwing and catching are very much complementary skills, it is recommended that they are taught somewhat separately with a focus placed on one skill at a time.  Developing throwing technique requires force to be generated and pupils with an immature catching technique may not be able to engage fully with the activity.  To help deal with this it is recommended that soft items such as bean bags, foam balls or other light objects be used to practise throwing initially.

It is also important that the right sized object is used to practise throwing  as larger objects will impact on development.  The object should fit comfortably in the fingers.

Striking with the foot or kicking is a manipulative skill synonymous with many sporting activities in Ireland.  Kicking a moving object, foot dribbling, trapping and punting are all components of striking with the foot.  This resource pack will initially address striking a stationary object as it is the easiest to become proficient in, and can be applied to many activities and modified games.  

When a ball is kicked, force is applied to the ball from the foot causing it to move in the direction the force is applied.  The more force applied, the further the ball will travel.  Kicking is a very useful tool to develop coordination between the foot and the eye.  Activities that use the skill of kicking include rugby, soccer, gaelic football and Australian rules football.

Things to consider

Kicking is one of the more difficult fundamental movement skills to master, so particular attention should be paid to the technique.  It is important to stress that when learning to kick the pupil should be instructed to kick as hard as they can.  Focus should be placed on generating force rather than accuracy in the early stages of development.  In order to maximise force, contact should be made directly behind the ball with the shoelaces or instep.  For safety purposes use a foam or light ball initially and insure that nobody is standing in or near the target area.

Striking an object with the hand involves two key movements, controlling an object in an upward direction (the volley) and controlling an object in a downward direction (the bounce).  This resource focuses predominantly on striking downwards and in particular the stationary bounce.  Striking with the hand while on the move (dribbling) is considered one of the more difficult fundamental movement skills as it involves hand-eye coordination, tracking a moving object and applying force through the hand, all while trying to maintain balance.  For this reason the resource begins with the introductory movement of the stationary bounce.  Many of the teaching points associated with the stationary bounce can also be applied to the volley and to bouncing on the move when pupils are ready to develop these skill.  Striking with the hand is important in a range of sporting activities including basketball, gaelic football, netball, volleyball and handball.

Things to consider

Balloons can be very useful when exposing pupils to striking with their hands, while soft balls are appropriate when beginning to learn the bounce.  An organised, open spaced, learning environment is essential when teaching bouncing and volleying as there can be safety concerns around tripping and collisions.