Crazy Or Crazy Good? – Challenge Set for Alli
- August 11, 2020
The Physical Education Department would like to introduce you to Year 10 student, Alli Nokes. Last week Alli was selected in Division 1 for shot put. We were so excited; this was her first year in the team and we had discovered a new talent!
All was tracking well until Alli played her weekend football game and four days later realised she’d broken the thumb on her right hand. No! This was going to be such a good year!
Whilst chatting about her injury and recovery timeline we jokingly suggested she could have a go with her left hand, Alli is a pretty talented athlete after all. Enter Dana Hooker, Vice-Captain of the WCE women’s side. Dana was intrigued by this idea and shared with us the findings of a study she was part of, in relation to the football kick. Participants spent six weeks practising their kick with their dominant foot. They then spent the next six weeks practising only with their non-dominant foot. The results showed a significant improvement in the athlete’s performance when they returned to kicking with their dominant foot, despite not training this side for six weeks.
It was then we had our light bulb moment – there are six weeks until IGSSA – should we try?
Credit to Alli, as she decided to accept the challenge and for the next six weeks will only train with her left hand!
In her first session, Alli recorded a throw of 6.56m (only 2m shorter than her PB). In her second attempt, she is already at 7.77m
Are we crazy or maybe we might just be crazy good? Who knows, we’ll have to wait until IGSSA to see if this works. Stay tuned.
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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.