Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Who's Your Daddy?

The first time I saw this drill I thought it the concept was hilarious, adding some lighthearted brio to a no-frills singles exercise. But when I tried to get my young adult male players to play it, all but one rebelled. See if you have any better luck than I did. I am going to try it again and see if I get better results.

Regardless of number of players, only two are playing singles at a time. Both start at sideline. One is at the baseline (not in middle at hash mark). The other is on the other side of the net, also on same side of court as other player but entering court closer to service line (rather than baseline). Pro is off court on opposite side of court from players, feeding from across the net. Pro feeds straight ahead (simulating a passing shot) so that baseline player must run to get ball. Players play out the point. Pro feeds baseline player a second passing shot (anywhere), and second point is played out. After two points, players switch ends of court. First player to X number of points, wins.

Here's where the Who's You're Daddy? comes in: if either player wins both points, they can earn a bonus point by calling out 'Who's your daddy?'. This is where I had trouble selling this drill. My students were mortified. Only one had the nerve to try it. The others refused. So we finished the drill but IMO it was nowhere near as fun as it could have been. If you have the same problem, consider changing the bonus saying to something your players will embrace. 'Booya, Grandma' and 'Oh yeah!' have worked for me in other drills.

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