No.77

Cross-Armed Catch

Japanese name: エックスキャッチ

Materials

Face a partner about 3–4 m apart, with clear space around both players.
Send the ball slowly with a two-handed underarm throw, aiming between the partner’s abdomen and chest. Never aim at the face.
An ordinary two-handed catch is allowed. Only a successful catch with arms crossed into an X earns one step closer.
After a miss, retrieve the ball and resume at the same distance. Swap thrower and catcher after every attempt.
Stop before getting too close. Three cross-armed catches are a shared success. Return to the original distance for another record attempt.

Younger primary school children: a large ball at close range. Older primary school children: increase the target number of catches.