Excellent Throw Guide: Consistent Curveballs

Excellent throws give you the best catch rate (and most XP). Here's a Pokemon-by-Pokemon guide to hitting them consistently.

Circle Lock Technique

Pokemon	Circle Size	Throw Arc	Speed
Rayquaza	Large	Medium arc	Fast
Mewtwo	Medium	Low arc	Medium
Groudon	Medium	High arc	Very slow
Kyogre	Very Large	Medium arc	Fast
Dialga	Medium	High arc	Medium

The Setting the Circle Method

1. Wait for the Pokemon's attack animation
2. Hold the ball until the circle is at Excellent size
3. Let go of the ball (don't throw yet -- the circle stays locked)
4. Wait for the NEXT attack animation
5. As soon as the attack ends, throw the curveball
6. The circle stays at Excellent size because it locks during the attack

Curveball Settings
- AR mode: OFF (AR+ affects throw trajectory)
- Touch: Use index finger, not thumb
- Spin: 4-5 clockwise circles minimum
- Release on the upswing (ball at bottom of screen)
- Practice on: Pidgey, Wurmple, and Weedle (easy circles)

XP farming: During Community Days or Spotlight Hours, you can get 20,000 XP per Excellent throw with a Lucky Egg. That's 500k XP in 30 minutes. Practice on the current legendary raid boss -- they have the most forgiving excellent circle sizes. In the SEA community, the consensus is that Kyogre is the easiest legendary to excellent-throw -- use it to build your confidence.