Medicine Ball Chest Pass

How to do it

1. Stand facing a wall or a partner a few steps away, feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a medicine ball at the chest with both hands.
2. Set the elbows out to the sides and the fingers spread behind the ball.
3. Dip the knees slightly and lean the chest forward a little.
4. Push the ball away from the chest as hard as you can, straightening the arms fully as it leaves the hands.
5. Follow through with the arms and step into the throw if you like.
6. Catch the ball on the return, or retrieve it, and reset.

Common mistakes

• Throwing with the arms alone. The legs and trunk load the throw and the arms finish it; a pass from a standing-still body is half a throw.
• Pushing the ball upwards. It travels straight out at chest height; a ball that arcs up is a shot put, not a pass.
• Catching with straight arms. The ball is received with bent elbows that give as it lands; a stiff catch jars the wrists.
• Choosing a ball too heavy to throw fast. The point is speed; a ball that leaves the hands slowly is training something else.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Pecs

Secondary

• Shoulders
• Triceps