Sometimes when I throw a poke ball, it misses the target pokemon entirely (without pulling the pokemon inside, even momentarily).
I've noticed that if my throw ends up going to the left or the right of the target pokemon, it generally misses. However, even throws that appear to bounce off the forehead of my target pokemon sometimes miss.
The official Niantic help page on Finding and Catching wild Pokémon doesn't currently address this.
How do I am my throw such that the pokemon gets pulled inside, and the throw doesn't miss?
Best Answer
If they are performing their "attack" at the time your pokeball hits it, it will just bounce off them. Depending on the pokemon, this may sometimes look like just hitting them in the head and bouncing, while others have a more obvious deflecting animation.
To make sure they actually go in the pokeball, you have to hit it while avoiding this animation, which is sometimes hard to predict. It may just be bad luck if it happens frequently, but I find if you throw immediately after one of these, they are unlikely to do it twice in quick succession