Week 1

Net and court games - Two-hand strike

Equipment

Marker cones
Racquets
Mini volleyballs (or similar)
Wall

Download the Week 1 Net and Court Games - Two-hand strike activity card to support teaching before and during the sport session.

FMS focus: Two-hand strike

Learning intention

Students are developing proficiency in the two-hand strike.

Success criteria.

Student has:

Stands side-on to target area.
Eyes focused on the ball throughout the strike.
Hands next to each other, bottom hand matches the front foot.

When proficient in above, student has:

Steps towards target area with front foot.
Hips then shoulders rotate forward.
Ball contact made on front foot with straight arms.
Follows through with bat around the body.

Explicit teaching of the two-hand strike

Model the skill:

Model the two-hand strike to students, using a ball and racquet, while explaining the movements needed to effectively strike:

- Stand side-on.
- Keep your eyes on the ball.
- Position your hands so they match your feet.
- Use a big swing.
- Step forward and swing.
- Contact the ball with straight arms.
- Swing and follow through.

Independent practice with immediate teacher feedback:

Students set up beside a wall with a raquet and ball. Players hit the ball against the wall and count how many times in a row they can hit the ball. The ball may bounce more than once on the floor.

Skill development games

FMS focus activity - Racquet and ball skills circuit

FMS: Overarm throw and catch

Equipment: 1 racquet/ball per player, targets, hoops, buckets

How to play: Players in four groups, each at a station, which have different activities, for between 3-5 minutes. One station is set up along each wall of the gym. Each activity involves the player bouncing the ball with their non-dominant hand and then hitting to the wall. When the whistle is blown, players move along to the next activity station, and so on.

Nominate which group begins at which station - A, B, C or D:

A: Hit to a target on the wall

B: Hit to the wall and into a bucket

C: Hit to a target on the wall

D: Hit to the wall and into a hoop

Frogs and lily pads - Playing for Life Activity Card

FMS focus activity - Frogs and lily pads

FMS: Vertical jump

Equipment: A 10m x 10m square marked out by 4 cones (the pond), hoops to be used as lily pad

How to play: Players continuously jump from lily pad to lily pad using a two-foot takeoff and landing technique. (Play in groups of 4–8.)

Randomly distribute the hoops inside the pond, making sure they are not too far away from each other (i.e. jumping distance).
Players jump from lily pad to lily pad and see how many they can land on in a given amount of time, e.g. 60 seconds.
If there is more than one frog on the lily pad, it will sink. If a player jumps onto a lily pad with another player already on it, the original player must immediately find another lily pad to jump onto.
Players may jump into the pond as well as onto the lily pads.

Modified small-sided games

It's game time!

Teams play each other in the game outlined below.

Racquet Relay

Equipment: Cones, 1 racquet per player, 1 ball per group

How to play: Players start off in relay groups behind a starting line. Players balance a ball on their racquet, while weaving in and out of obstacles. When the hitting line is reached, the player uses the bat to hit the wall twice before returning with the ball balanced on the bat.