Well hello everyone,
My favorite sports-related memory happened in P.E., which is very fitting, as National Physical Education Week starts on Monday! I have always had trouble making foul shots from the free throw line. So one day, when we were playing basketball in P.E., I asked our teacher, Coach Link, if he could show me how to make a free throw. He wanted me to show him my technique first. I was already nervous about free throws since I wasn’t very good at them, but now with an audience I was extra nervous! Needless to say I missed pretty badly. The first piece of advice Coach Link gave me was that I needed to loosen up a little, as I was too uptight. The second piece of advice was to aim for the square on the backboard. Swishes are “cool,” but hitting that square on the backboard is the key to consistent success. So I watched him. He made three in a row! I was so impressed. He told me that once you get the feeling of making free throws, it’s easy! Just make the same motion over and over again and gently hit the square every time. To demonstrate, he then made some free throws with his eyes closed!!
So when I got up to the line, I took three deep breaths, dribbled a few times, and then aimed for the square. Too hard. Coach Link told me that I was on the right track though, so I took another shot, and I made it! I was so excited. I shot 5 more times and made four of them. After a few days of practice, I tried one with my eyes closed, and surprisingly, I made it! With the advice from Coach Link and some practice, I was able to make free throws with my eyes closed almost every time! That is definitely my favorite sports-related memory (and making a basket with your eyes closed really comes in handy during a game of H-O-R-S-E!).
Click here for today’s coloring sheet.
Click here for today’s activity sheet.
Talk to you soon,
Peri Stolic
