Final answer:
Object control skills are used when catching a ball, involving coordination and consideration of gravity's effects on the ball's trajectory. The cerebellum assists in coordinating head and eye movements during the catch. 'Giving' with the ball by pulling hands towards the body when catching reduces force, akin to diving with fingers first into water, illustrating impulse principles.
Step-by-step explanation:
Object control skills involve the coordination of movements to manipulate objects in the environment, and this includes catching a ball or object that is coming toward you. When someone catches a ball, they use object control skills to aim the ball upward, creating an arc in consideration of the gravity that will cause it to fall. This arc allows the ball to be caught successfully. In the process of catching, the catcher must coordinate their head and eyes, which involves the cerebellum, part of the brain responsible for motor control and coordination.
When catching a ball, if you 'give' with the ball by pulling your hands toward your body, it helps to cushion the impact, similar to a swimmer diving with their fingers first into the water, reducing the force of the impact. However, catching with still hands or hitting water with your full palm, akin to a belly flop, results in a greater impact due to reduced time to decelerate, causing more force to be exerted on the hands - this is less advisable. These activities demonstrate the principle of impulse and how increasing the time over which a force is applied can reduce the overall impact.