Theoretical basis: Overhead throwing is a basic skill for many sports games. This is a natural skill based on human phylogenesis.
Mastering this skill is a prerequisite for learning handball and softball that are included in the school curriculum of the primary and secondary schools and therefore they are also the content of the education of future teachers. Purpose: The aim is to compare the performance of one-handed overhead throw with a softball and handball ball in the group of the Charles University Faculty of Physical Education and Sport students; and determine whether there is a relationship between selected anthropometric data (arm span and forearm length) and the overhead throw velocity.
Methods: The participants were students of the 2 Education and Sport of Charles University (25 women, 78 men) who were deliberately divided into 4 groups based on whether they were sport games players (volleyball, handball, tennis) or not. The attempts were recorded by the video camera with the frequency of 50 Hz and the velocity was measured with the radar.
Software DARTFISH 7 TEAM PRO was used to evaluate the kinematic data using image decomposition at 100 Hz. Signifcance was evaluated using ANOVA at the 0.05 level of signifcance and the Bland-Altman diagram.
The relationship between anthropometric data and throwing velocity was evaluated using the Pearson correlation coeffcient. Results: The results of the comparison of the performance of the overhead throw showed statistically and practically signifcant differences in the velocity of the ball with the softball and handball ball in all groups except for the group of women who did not play selected sports games.
The relationship between the arms span (forearm length) and the throwing velocity of the handball and softball ball has not been demonstrated. The results of the comparison of throw technique have shown high variability in performance and mistakes during the throw in groups that did not have previous experience with selected sports games.
Conclusion: The results of the study show the unsatisfactory performance of the monitored skills. This may be caused be the insuffcient amount of hours of exercises spent on these games in the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport curriculum.