Smash It Or Send It

I learned this dribbling variation from one of my students. He is 5. I was showing him the various ways to dribble a ball (ups, downs, self-rallies) and he came up with this one on his own. And I let him! He was obsessed with it and had completed 53 rallies before his dad had to drag him off the court. Love when that happens!

Basically this is a series of 'down's (bouncing the ball against the court with the racquet) without those pesky rules of only one bounce per hit. He Smashed It, tracking it as it was bouncing, and Smashed It again when he judged it to be the proper time. If it started to get too low, he tapped it from underneath (an 'up' - the Send It option) instead to give it more height. Very bright fellow.

So loosen up the rules on the dribbing and let your students Find A Way to engage with racquet and ball. See how many rallies they can get this way. As long as ball is not rolling, keep Smashing and Sending.

Here's a video of my student demonstrating his Smashing skills.