Catch and Overhead Throw

Execution

1. Hold the medicine ball with both hands and bring it back behind your head until you feel a light stretch across the shoulders and chest.
2. Brace your core and push lightly through the floor with both feet to start the force from the legs up.
3. Whip your arms forward fast and release the ball as hard as you can into the wall or to your partner.
4. Follow the throw forward slightly and bring your hands up ready to receive the rebound.
5. Catch the ball with both hands, letting the elbows bend slightly to cushion the impact.
6. Bring the ball straight back behind your head to start the next throw without a long pause.
7. If your arms are fading, you keep missing the catch, or the ball rebounds up past your face, end the set: step aside and let it land instead of blocking it with straight arms.

Quick cues

• Power starts from the legs, not the arms.
• Hands come up to catch right after release.
• Brace the belly before the arm swing.
• Stand close enough to handle the rebound.
• Think about throwing straight through the wall.

Common faults

• Fault: Throwing with just the arms and shoulders while the legs stay passive

  Fix: Rebuild the throw with a clear leg drive before the arm swing, counting '1-push, 2-throw'.

• Fault: Standing too far from the wall to control the rebound

  Fix: Move closer to the wall until you can catch the rebound cleanly with both hands every time.

• Fault: Overarching the lower back while winding the ball back overhead

  Fix: Brace the core before the wind-up and only take the ball back as far as the shoulder stays comfortable.

• Fault: Catching with stiff, locked-out elbows

  Fix: Cue the elbows to bend the instant the ball touches your hands to absorb the impact.