How to get Excellent throws more consistently in Pokémon Go

Trainers can make different types of throws in Pokémon Go when trying to capture a Pokémon. Each type of throw grants the player extra XP after catching the Pokémon, so you should aim for the best type there is—a Curved Excellent throw.

The type of throw depends on the size of the circle when throwing a Poké Ball, ranging from Nice, Great, and Excellent. When touching a Poké Ball, a circle will start to move in front of the Pokémon you’re trying to catch.

Practice will help you determine what size the circle has to be to get an Excellent throw. The circle must be at its smallest for an Excellent throw. Otherwise, you’ll get a Nice or Great throw. To curve the ball, just make circles when holding the Poké Ball and it will start spinning.

An Excellent throw will give you 100 XP, while a Curved ball will grant you 10 XP. So if you’re having a hard time making the throw, try making a straight throw since you won’t get much extra XP with Curved balls.

Always aim for the Pokémon’s face. That’s where the center of the circle will be. And remember, be patient. Each Pokémon has a different action, such as moving around, attacking, or jumping. Wait for it to be calm and then throw the Poké Ball.

After practicing

There’s a way to facilitate getting an Excellent throw more easily after you’ve practiced getting the ball in the center of the circle. Most Pokémon make an attacking jump movement and that’s the best time to make your throw.

Every time you touch the screen, the circle starts to move inwards, which makes it hard to get the size right—except when the Pokémon is doing the attacking movement, however. So hold the Poké Ball until you get the smallest circle hittable and wait for the attack.

When it jumps foward, start making your Curved ball and throw it when the Pokémon is jumping back, aiming at the center of its face. If you miss and the Pokémon leaves the Poké Ball but didn’t escape, don’t press the Poké Ball to try again. Wait until it attacks once more.

The circle won’t move and you can try again without having to set the circle in place once it attacks again. If it showed a Great throw, you’ll know that you only have to hold the Poké Ball just a little to try again.

This method will work best with bigger Pokémon since the circle is proportional to a Pokémon’s size. The Excellent throw circle will be too small to hit with smaller Pokémon, so go for Excellent throws on legendary Pokémon, for example.