Pages

Monday, January 13, 2014

Live Ball

Live Ball is a fun activity that goes by many different names. What I love about this particular
Go here for article and video
incarnation is that the author explains why it is okay to sometimes just skip 'the most important stroke of the game' (the serve) in the interest of speeding things up and leveling the playing field. In the article, the players are very high level. But I have had success using this for students of all levels and abilities with groups large or small. The article example is with a larger group and is playing doubles. But recently I played it with two orange ball players - TWO - (singles, natch), and they both loved it. It really gets the competitive juices flowing. It is also great for fitness. I had my older yellow ball players huffing and puffing with it a few weeks ago.

To summarize the article and video: this is basically King/Queen of the Court with a 4/2 scoring scheme. Pro feeds first ball to challenger(s). Challengers must win 4 points before king/queen wins 2. If challengers succeed, they are the new king/queen.

Some fun variations:

  • Set a time limit. Player(s) who are king/queen when time ends are that day's champs.
  • Set a limit on how many rotations the king/queen can stay. 
  • Base your feeds on whatever you are working on that class - all backhands, no bounce, etc. 

No comments:

Post a Comment