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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Rallyball

Presently I am holding a Rallyball competition among my students. Every Saturday throughout the
month of January, clinics will consist of a warm-up, then round robins with Rallyball scoring. I am awarding two overall prizes: one for most total points and one for Most Improved. Most Improved will be determined by who has the highest percentage increase between first match and best match.

RSVPs are helpful since you are playing singles and may need plenty of courts depending on your turnout.

Orange ball and higher:

  • Singles round robin format of timed matches. How many rotations and how long they are depends on how many courts and players you have to work with. For a one hour clinic you can plan on about three 10-12 minute rotations after warm-up and including rotation and water break time, assuming you have plenty of courts. It helps to have even numbers of players so no one is sitting out. Sitting out means you are not earning points. If you are squeezed for courts, shorten the rotation time.
  • Each player serves once from each side (deuce, ad). After four points (each player serving twice), players switch ends.
  • Points are awarded per rally. Serve counts as one rally for server. Double fault awards one point to opponent. So for example if Player A serves, then a three ball rally occurs before server nets ball, 4 rallies have been completed (one serve and three rallies) so each player earns 2 points.
  • Players report point totals to coach at end of each rotation. Players begin at 0 for each new rotation. 
  • Since we are playing over an entire month, points accumulate throughout the month. So the more they attend, the better chance they have to win. If some players aren't able to make every match and therefore are at a disadvantage for winning on overall points, remind them they still have a shot at winning Most Improved if they have plenty of long rallies.

Red ball:
This can be very tricky to count rallies, so some additional help from staff or parents will be greatly appreciated. Feed the first ball to players who are not able to serve well yet. I find clothespins very handy here to help us all keep track of score.



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