Workshop Description

Learning Design: Play-Practice-Play model

This workshop followed the Play-Practice-Play (PPP) approach, a model that aligns with both Physical Education pedagogy and the ecological dynamics framework discussed by Hopper & Rhoades (2023) and US Soccer Federation (2018). In their work, they explain that PPP begins with a game that reveals tactical opportunities and challenges, moves into structured practice linked to those tactical needs, and then returns to gameplay where learners can apply newly refined skills in context. They emphasize that this cycle helps students connect technical cues, tactical concepts, and biomechanical principles so that skill development remains meaningful and game relevant.

PPP is ideal for Spikeball because the game continuously demands reading cues, adjusting force, creating space, and coordinating with a partner which are behaviours that naturally emerge when students begin with open, exploratory play and then refine their mechanics through task-specific practice.

Play 1:
Students begin with simple modified games designed to:

•  activate prior experiences

• surface tactical problems (e.g., how to use space, recover quickly, or control force)

• highlight biomechanical inefficiencies that students will later refine

This mirrors  Hopper & Rhoades' (2023) argument that learners must first encounter the tactical demands of the game before technical instruction becomes meaningful. By seeing what the game “asks of them,” students experience authentic affordances and opportunities for actions based on spacing, time, and ball trajectory.

Practice:
Four progressive stations using Inclusion, Reciprocal, and Self-Check styles. Task cards included for biomechanical cues and performance criteria.

Each station is designed using varied instructional styles to meet learners where they are:

• Inclusion style: Students choose task difficulty and adjust constraints (distance, force, rebound height).

•  Reciprocal style: Pairs use biomechanical cue cards (e.g., stable base, hitting zone alignment) to give feedback.

• Self-check: Students evaluate their own consistency, force control, and timing using clear success criteria.

Stations explicitly target Spikeball-relevant biomechanics such as:

• positioning around a 360° net

•  force absorption and redirection (like controlling the hitting zone in tennis)

• stable base for controlled passing

• reading ball trajectory and adjusting in real time

This structured practice strengthens perception-action coupling, allowing students to better attune to cues that shape tactical decisions.

Play 2:
Students return to modified play, now with a specific tactical lens, such as:

• manipulating space (finding angles, creating open areas)

• adjusting time (slowing the rally with controlled passes, speeding up with an attack hit)

• assessing risk based on rebound height and opponent positioning

• coordinating movement rhythm with a partner

This phase is identical to what Hopper and Rhoades describe as players re-entering the game with tactical insights and practiced technical prompts, allowing them to “read” the game more effectively and make biomechanically informed decisions.

The lesson incorporated diverse teaching styles, including Command and practice, reciprocal, self-check, and guided discovery, across its phases.

Lesson Structure and Activities

1. Introduction and Warm-up The lesson begins with an introduction and a warm-up. The initial activity, taught using the Command and practice style, is Throw and catch spikeball. Students are organized into groups of four of the same color. Basic game rules, such as a maximum of three touches per team (like volleyball), requiring at least one pass (throw) on serve, and the concept of playing around the entire net once the ball is in play, are established.

To get the students to start to figure out how to play tactically in relation to space and time the teacher ask two guided discovery questions: (1) When your partner is receiving the ball where should you go? (2) When sending the ball for the partner to spike, where is the ideal place to send it and what height?

2. Practice Stations (Skill Development) The practice phase consisted of four stations designed to improve specific skills, primarily using the Command and practice, reciprocal, and self-check teaching styles.

• Station 1 (Passing Technique): Activities focused on improving passing through levels. Level 1 involved passing to oneself, focusing on underhand/overhand passes. Level 2 involved pair work on Target Passing, aiming to hit a polyspot on the ground. Level 3 utilized Peer feedback (reciprocal) in groups of four, aiming for 50% of passes to go directly into the partner's hands without them moving. Key passing cues included using soft fingers, cupping the hand, and focusing on control.

• Station 2 (Spiking/Hitting): Activities focused on developing hitting technique. Level 1 involved practicing self-tossing and hitting the ball into a hula hoop near a wall. Level 2 involved pair work on Target Spiking towards a floor target. Level 3 incorporated Peer feedback for hitting drills, aiming to hit the net for a catching partner. Key focus areas included proper hand positioning and maintaining an EYE ON THE BALL.

• Station 3 (Serving): Activities focused on improving serves. Level 1 involved practicing basic serves onto the net with a partner catching. Level 2 required the partner to define a target area, challenging the server to hit the target five times in a row. Level 3 involved serving and then performing a self-rally. Students were encouraged to focus on consistency and creating more force when serving.

• Station 4 (Offensive/Defensive Positioning/Strategy): This station used guided discovery alongside Command and practice. Activities progressed from defensive drills ("dingle") that encouraged anticipation to offensive/defensive strategy drills requiring anticipation of hard or soft hits, and finally, a strategy game. Guided discovery questions prompted students to reflect on anticipation, how to position themselves relative to the net, and how to use deception in offense.

3. Culminating Activity (Game Play) The lesson ended with a Tournament, requiring teams to play teams of a different color. Games were played to 5 points. The activity incorporated Adaptation rules to maintain competitive balance, which were based on Hopper’s concept of Modification-by-Adaptation (MbA). These adaptations included:

• Stronger teams starting the next game 1-0 or 2-0 down if they won.

• If a winning team played a losing team (after three wins), the winning team had to spike the ball with their non-dominant hand to score a point.

• Teams that kept losing were allowed to catch, self-toss, and spike.

These rules were designed to support the development of tactical concepts, such as giving novices more Time to prepare (self-rally option) and modulating Force for stronger players (controlled touches/non-dominant hand spiking).

Overall, the lesson emphasized students' autonomy and reflective learning by encouraging them to use self-check and reciprocal feedback strategies, make informed movement decisions, and collaborate effectively with peers.