• One bat
• One ball (whiffle, tennis or other soft ball)
• Four cones
• One base or a fifth cone.

Students will learn the rules for Over The Line while demonstrating a basic batting swing and basic throwing and catching skills

Students apply movement concepts and principles to the learning and development of motor skills.

For over the line you will have more than one game set up. Make sure there is enough space to keep students safe.

Over the line is a miniature version of baseball/softball so the students should have already been introduced with basic batting, throwing, and catching skills.

Another important safety note is to make sure the pitcher stands far enough away from the batter as not to get hit.

Cues for correctly striking objects with bats:

• Batting grip (the strong hand should rest above the other hand.)
• Shoulder towards target (turn so that your side faces the target or field.)
• Batting stance (feet should be about shoulder distance apart with knees bent.)
• Bat back (bring the bat over your shoulder so elbow’s pointed up.)
• Watch the ball (keep your eyes on the ball the entire time.)
• Level swing (extend arms for a flat swing.)
• Shift forward (transfer your body weight from front to back foot.)
• Follow through (continue swinging motion through over your other shoulder.)

Note: For older or more experienced students you can use more of the cues above; with younger or less experienced students you can simply focus on a few of the cues listed.

DIAGRAM OF PLAY AREA

The batter stands at the X (the base or cone)

The pitcher underhand tosses the ball to the batter who attempts to hit the ball into fair territory.

The fielders may play anywhere behind the line inside fair territory.

Any ball hit into fair territory without being caught (including a dropped or touched ball) is a hit.

A fielder may try to catch a foul ball, if they do the batter is out, if they drop it, it counts as a foul ball.

3 hits in an inning = a run. Each additional hit in that inning is another run.

Any ball hit past the back fielder in fair territory, on the fly, without the player touching it is a home run.

A home run doesn’t have to necessarily go over the defensive players head- just go past him/her.

A home run clears the bases - it scores any hits prior to the home run that haven’t already scored.

Outs include the following:

• two foul balls,
• two strikes,
• a fly ball caught by any fielder, or
• a ball landing within the out triangle.

Each team gets as many outs as they have players (example: 3 players on a team = 3 outs per inning.)

A batting tee or large cone can be used in place of a pitcher

You can vary the size of bats and/or balls depending on the skill level of your students

You can adjust the rules such as the number of foul balls or the number of strikes that equal an out to increase opportunities for success.