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Observation Two
The sun was beating down on a Tuesday afternoon at Olive View Elementary School in Corning,
California. It was four-thirty p.m. on March eighteenth when I observed the Corning Little
Leagues Wild Cats practice for two hours. Their team consisted of eleven girls between the
ages of eight and eleven, two female coaches and one male coach. The girls were part of the
Minor Division, which is in between Farm League and Majors. Many of the girls had been
playing in Little League for years. However, for some girls this was their first year playing
softball.
Levels of Skill Proficiency
Graham, Holt/Hale, and Parker (2013) named the levels of skill proficiency Pre-Control,
Control, Utilization and Proficient. I noticed that the girls levels of skill proficiency varied
throughout the group. The girls spent the majority of the first half practicing throwing and
catching. I dont believe that any of the girls would be categorized at a pre-control level for
throwing. Even though two of the girls were on the Little League for the first time, they were
naturals. Specifically, I noticed one ten-year old girl in the control level. Every time she threw
the ball, she would get into position, taking a step forward with her right foot, lifting her left
knee toward her chest while bringing back her right arm to release the ball. The throws were
good but the motion was slower than someone at a utilization level. It was obvious that she was
concentrating on each step of her throw. Other children were at the utilization level as they
would follow these steps in a more smooth and natural way. However, I do not believe any of
the children have mastered into the proficiency level. I did notice after numerous throws that
the throws became more effortless and controlled. They were just not consistent enough for me
to categorize at the proficiency level.
Motor Skills
There was an abundance of motor skills used during this lesson. Non-manipulative skills
included stretching, twisting and bending. For instance, at the beginning of practice the girls
were told to practice throwing to each other while kneeling on one knee. The purpose of this
activity was to practice rotating or twisting their torso during their throw. The coach
continuously cued the girls to rotate their torsos during each throw. Some of the girls at a lower
skill proficiency needed extra reminders of how they should move their torso and reminders to
stay on one knee. Stretching was strongly cued for when the girls practiced at their bases. The
first base player was cued to leave her foot on the base while stretching as far as possible to catch
a throw.
Manipulative skills included were throwing, catching and striking with a long-handed
object such as a bat. Two girls that were at the control level were given the cue to put their arm
way back before each throw. Another girl that I believe to be at the control level was given the
cue to keep her glove in front when catching, following with a cue to bring to the ball to her
chest before throwing it back.
Locomotive skills used were running, dodging and chasing. This was practiced when
half of the girls were on the bases and the other half stood in line to run bases. The coach took

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turns batting the ball to each base player, having them practice throwing to whichever base their
play was at. For instance, when there was a runner at first base, their play was at either first or
second base. Dodging was used one time, when a runner at first tried to get past the second base
player to avoid being tagged. Running was obviously used with each of the base runners. They
were cued to run as fast as possible and all the way through first base, regardless if the ball had
already made it their before them. Chasing was continuously done throughout this practice. For
instance, the children all chased after the ball to catch it, whether it was moving their bodies to
the side, running forward or running after a ball that passed them.
Movement Concepts
There are many movement concepts involved in softball. Graham, et al. (2013) describe the
movement concepts as Space Awareness, Effort and Relationships. Effort is described as how
the body moves in regards to time, force and flow. The girls demonstrated this throughout their
lesson. As I described earlier, the young girl throwing the ball with much concentration needed
to practice the movement concept, Effort. With practice, her throwing technique will become
smooth and faster.
Space awareness was used throughout the lesson. When batting, it was important that the girls
were aware of their body position. They were reminded where to place their feet, and to keep
their elbow up while holding the bat. Other times space awareness was observed when the girls
were placed at their infield positions. For instance, one girl at second base was reminded where
to stand in conjunction to the bases. The girls at the utilization level were already aware of their
space awareness in the infield and so were some of the girls at the control level.
Relationships with objects were used during catching, throwing and batting. For instance, during
batting practice, the girls were reminded how to hold their bat. One girl needed several
reminders to choke up or put her hands higher on the handle of the bat. Another girl was
consistently reminded to lift her right elbow up while holding the bat. Many reminders were
given to swing the bat at a level horizontal swing. During throwing the girls were prompted to
bring the ball up and back, over their shoulder, before bringing it forward to release. Finally,
with catching, one girls mom was concerned how she was holding her glove in front of her on a
sideways angle. After talking to the coach, she was told that it was okay as long as she kept the
glove in front of her body.
Conclusion
This observation taught me a lot about working with children at different levels of skill
proficiency. It taught me that there are different cues necessary for different children depending
on what level they are at. Also, I learned that some children need extra reminders of the cues for
the particular lesson they are doing. I was surprised to see how many movement concepts and
motor skills are used in Softball. Before this observation, I was unaware of all the steps
necessary for hitting, catching and throwing during softball. It was exciting to be able to notice
the things that we are learning in class and see it being used in a real life setting. This lesson
taught me to be a better coach for my children when we are practicing at home.

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References
Graham, G., Holt/Hale, S., & Parker, M. (2013). Children moving: a reflective approach to
teaching physical education (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.