Pokemon Go catching tips: How to make Nice, Great & Excellent throws

Consistently landing Excellent, Great, or Nice throws in Pokemon Go can be a challenge for even the best trainers at times. Luckily, there are a number of tips to help increase your chances for Pokemon encounters. 

At its heart, Pokemon Go is all about getting outside and looking to collect and catch as many Pokemon as possible. While finding them in the game is relatively easy for most trainers, catching them can be a bit of a challenge.

This is especially true when ongoing Research events are asking players to land certain throws and catch specific types of Pokemon.

Whether you’re looking to make a Nice, Great, or Excellent throw, there’s a set of tips & tricks you can use to significantly increase your chances of catching all of the ‘mon you encounter.

Contents

• How to make Great, Excellent, and Nice Throws in Pokemon Go
• Types of Throws in Pokemon Go
• Nice Throw in Pokemon Go
• Great Throw in Pokemon Go
• Excellent Throw in Pokemon Go
• How to throw a Curveball in Pokemon Go

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You’ll be collecting all manner of Pokemon with these catching tips.

How to make Great, Excellent, and Nice Throws in Pokemon Go

Once you’ve entered an encounter with a Pokemon, you’ll notice there are two circles that are surrounding it. One is stationary and the other will vary in size and color.

The color of the inner circle indicates how difficult that Pokemon will be to catch. If the circle is a shade of green, it’ll be easy to catch. If it’s yellow, orange, or red, however, it’ll be more of a challenge.

Types of Throws in Pokemon Go

To throw effectively in Pokemon GO, it’s important you know each of the different types of throws you can land.

The game will often set a Trainer’s challenges to make a specific throw to gain some extra XP, and as an added bonus, going for the more difficult throw increases your chances of capturing a Pokemon.

• Curveball (1x bonus)
• Nice! (1.15x bonus)
• Great! (1.5x bonus)
• Excellent! (1.85x bonus)

‘Nice!’ throws are the easiest to land, with ‘Excellent’ being the hardest. Players will gain a large chunk of extra XP for making the more difficult throws, but it comes at the risk of using more Pokeballs.

How to make a Nice Throw in Pokemon Go

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Here’s an example of a Nice throw.

To land a Nice throw, simply follow these easy steps and you’ll be able to add the Pokemon to your collection in no time.

1. Enter an encounter with a Pokemon you want to catch
2. Ensure the inner circle is green or yellow by switching to a better Pokeball if it’s required
3. Hold the ball and wait for the inner circle to reach its largest radius
4. Throw your Pokeball at the Pokemon
5. You’ve now added another Pokemon to your collection!

Although it may take you a few attempts to catch it, you’ll eventually hit the sweet spot, and the ‘mon will be yours!

How to make a Great Throw in Pokemon Go

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Here’s an example of a Great throw.

As mentioned above, the only difference between landing a Nice and a Great throw is the size of the inner circle players have hit when catching a Pokemon.

• For a Great throw, you’ll need to wait until the shifting inner circle reaches half of its maximum size. Then, follow the same process shown above
• Landing this specific throw will grant you some extra XP and offers a multiplier of 1.5x
• Feeding it a Razz Berry will also help to increase the odds of a catch by 1.5x

How to make an Excellent Throw in Pokemon Go

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Here’s an example of an Excellent throw.

By far the hardest throw to land in Pokemon Go, the Excellent Throw requires players to toss the Pokeball when the inner circle is as small as it can be. While this is definitely a challenge, some tips will help you consistently land those shots with ease:

• Before throwing the ball, hold it and wait for the circle to reach its smallest radius
• Let go of the ball, but don’t touch it until you’re ready to catch the Pokemon. This allows you to take your time with the throw and ensure you’re ready before going for an attempt
• Use a Curveball to increase your chances of catching a Pokemon by spinning the Pokeball in a circle before they attempt a throw. If successful, a star animation will surround the PokeBall

How to throw a Curveball in Pokemon Go

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Throwing a Curveball will increase your chances of capturing a Pokemon, as well as netting some extra experience.

Knowing how to throw a Curveball in Pokemon Go is essential, as it increases your chances of capturing a ‘mon while also granting more XP. Throwing a Curveball is quite easy to accomplish, and we’d recommend utilizing it for as many throws as possible for that nice experience boost.

• Start by spinning the ball in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
• Keep in mind that the ball will curve based on the nature of your spin – it’ll move to the right for a clockwise spin and it’ll travel left for an anti-clockwise spin.
• If you choose to throw the ball towards the center of screen, throw it in the opposite direction of the ball spin.

So there you have it – how to land Excellent, Great, Nice, and Curveball throws in Pokemon Go.

Want to become the best Trainer Pokemon Go has ever seen? Check out our guides for all of the best and latest tips:

How to catch Ditto | Best Eeveelutions | Field research tasks | Promo Codes for free items | How to get Pinap Berries | Spotlight Hour schedule | How to defeat Giovanni | Rarest Pokemon | Best Mega Evolutions | Community Day schedule | How to get free Raid Passes | Team Go Rocket Grunt guide