Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← PE
PEAdvanced technique25 min★★ difficulty

Improving technique in athletics and gymnastics

Small technical corrections often make a bigger difference than raw effort — good technique lets your fitness actually count.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Technique and performance: Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

Key learning points

  • • Breaking skills into phases
  • • Athletics technique
  • • Gymnastics technique

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 14 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

techniqueimproveperformancecompetitivesports

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 14

Watch first

Improving technique in athletics and gymnastics

An English teaching video on this topic from HIS PE Department. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 14

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Breaking skills into phases

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 14

Learn

Breaking skills into phases

Complex movements are easier to improve when broken into phases: for a sprint start, that means the set position, the drive phase and acceleration. Working on one phase at a time makes weaknesses easier to spot and fix.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 14

Learn

Athletics technique

In throwing events like javelin or shot put, technique (the run-up, transfer of weight, release angle) matters as much as strength. A better technique with the same strength can add significant distance.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

Why break a skill like a sprint start into phases?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 14

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

In throwing events, what matters alongside strength?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 14

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Gymnastics technique

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 14

Learn

Gymnastics technique

Gymnastics rewards control and shape: pointed toes, straight lines and controlled landings score higher than raw height or speed. Repetition with feedback, ideally filmed and reviewed, helps refine these fine details.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

What does gymnastics scoring typically reward?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 14

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 14

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Complex movements are easier to ____ when broken into phases: for a sprint start, that means the set position, the drive phase and acceleration.

In throwing events like javelin or shot put, ____ (the run-up, transfer of weight, release angle) matters as much as strength.

13

Mastery quiz

Part 13 of 14

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Improving technique in athletics and gymnastics

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Why break a skill like a sprint start into phases?

  2. 2. In throwing events, what matters alongside strength?

  3. 3. What does gymnastics scoring typically reward?

14

Lesson round-up

Part 14 of 14

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Article

What a warm-up is actually for

A warm-up raises the heart rate, sends more blood to the working muscles and raises muscle temperature by a couple of degrees. Warm muscle stretches further before it tears, and messages between brain and muscle travel faster, so movement is more accurate.

A good warm-up has three parts: a few minutes of easy movement, mobility that takes joints through the range the sport needs, and short bursts at close to game speed.

Long, still stretching before explosive sport can slow the muscle down. Save that kind of stretching for the cool-down.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Explain in your own words two things a warm-up does to the body.
  2. Design a ten-minute warm-up for one sport, with times for each part.
  3. Keep a training log for three sessions: what you did, how long, and how you felt after.

  • Training log

    Writing

    Write what you did, for how long, and how your body felt afterwards.

    Half a page

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports, such as athletics and gymnastics

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