Skyaak gets educated at local High School
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Yesterday worked out really well. I bundled up five Skyaak units and made my way to our local High School Gymnasium for the entire morning. The gym teacher and I introduced Skyaak to Grades 9, 10 and 11 in three consecutive classes. It was a very educational experience for me to see the group dynamic in action and to watch the various reactions from the boys and girls as they worked it out.
First of all, I asked for a volunteer from the group to be my sparring partner. I showed the very basic throws, starting with a simple ‘like a dart’ with the two of us standing about 10 feet apart. Next, we moved a bit further apart and I demonstrated the ‘follow-through’ motion that is similar to any other throw.
Then we looked at the ‘finger-flicker’ technique where you use the two fingers (like a ‘peace sign’) BEHIND the foam hand-grip and then at the very last second…FLICK your fingers to beef up power without any extra exertion. The key here, and with all the throws, is to always keep the nose of the Skyaak slightly above horizontal.
I emphasized that you concentrate on throwing the front of the Skyaak and the rest will naturally follow. This tip was very well-received. (Nods of approval, lights going on.)
Next came the underhand throw where you allow the foam hand grip to roll off the fingertips, like a soft-ball pitch. The underhand throw has the potential to get the Skyaak spinning very fast on its axis, which increases power, loft and distance.
I think the kids found the analogies to other techniques/devices quite helpful.
Once we had worked our way through the basics, I encouraged everyone to experiment with their own techniques. We then split into groups and started tossing Skyaak units back and forth. I noticed that after two or three tries, the majority of the kids were making very satisfactory progress. Most important, there was a lot of excitement and laughter as they got into it. Cool!
After 10-15 minutes of ‘free-play’ we broke into groups with Hula hoops. The object was to start at a distance of about 10 feet and try to pass the Skyaak cleanly through the hoop, then gradually increase the distance. The kids seemed to really enjoy this. I saw one group actually tossing their hoop into the air and then aiming at a moving target with their Skyaak. A bit more challenging for sure, but I saw a few successful executions!
After this we reconvened in circular formations of about six kids each. Each group had a few Skyaak units that they passed around the circle. The sequence was: make eye contact with the person to the left, throw Skyaak. Pivot to make eye contact with the person on the right and then catch incoming, etc.
I asked the group what would be a good name for this and one guy immediately shouted “Around the World”. Works for me!
At that point everyone was warmed up and pretty familiar with the basic throwing and catching techniques. Rock it!
Time to get serious…we split the group in half, evenly dispersing boys and girls to make two fairly well-matched teams. One team donned colored bibs. Enter EXTREME SKYAAK! This is when the gym teacher stepped up to establish a few basic rules. The ’server’ starts behind the first white line with their Skyaak, to start the action. Three steps are allowed while in possession, the opposition is only allowed within four feet of a player with a Skyaak. Play was fast and furious, with lots of on-court heroics. Those kids are very competitive.
To summarize, once we covered the basics and established a familiarity with the Skyaak dynamic, the ensuing game of EXTREME SKYAAK was a total blast enjoyed by all. It was fantastic to work out the logistics of introducing Skyaak to all the kids (about 70 in all) bearing in mind the balance between demonstration and letting the participants experiment, have fun and try out their own unique twist on Skyaak. I would say that the whole thing was a complete success and well worth the effort. Thanks to the gym teacher, staff and of course the students for helping out with this. You guys rock!
Your ideas seem to mesh with a powerful ‘synchronicity’.
