Try throwing while standing on one leg, or with your eyes closed.
If you choose the ‘1’ circle all the time, you’ll get points on more rounds, but you’ll only get one point each time you succeed. If you pick the ‘5’ all the time, then you probably won’t get points very often, but when you do, it will be lots of points.
A good strategy is to match your prediction with how easy you think the shot is. If you think the shot is easy, then choose a high value target. You’ve got a good chance at getting lots of points. If you think the shot is hard, then choose a big target. That way you’ve got a better chance of getting at least something.
Applications
In many sports, players have to make the choice between making an easy shot for fewer points, or trying for a harder shot worth more. For example, in rugby league, a penalty can be taken as a kick for goal worth two points, or the team can tap the ball and go for a try worth four or even six points.
A team that is behind may be more likely to try for risky shots worth more points. On the other hand, if a team only needs a few points to secure their lead, they may choose to take low scoring, safe shots. Both of these actions have more pronounced effects at the end of the game, where there won’t be many more opportunities to change the final result.
Being good at throwing is very important in this game. If you want a game where guessing is more important than throwing, you could try this variant:
- Before each player makes their throw, every other person writes down which circle they think the hacky-sack will end up in.
- The throwing player doesn’t make a prediction.
- The thrower scores points for the smallest circle they hit.
- Everyone else scores points if their guess was right.
You could also try exchanging the hacky-sack for Velcro darts or any other game that uses a bull’s-eye target.
More information
Here’s another activity about throwing accurately
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