Teaching
Sport Concepts
Teaching tips for the following sports drawn
from:
Griffin, L. L., Mitchell, S. A., &
Oslin, J. L. (1997). Teaching sport concepts and skills : A tactical games
approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
·
Tennis
1. Initiate games from a free ball. Teaching the serve to young (novice) students is not necessary in small-sided games to create maximum game play. For novice players or in the beginning of a unit, free ball (i.e., an easy, rainbow toss over the net) games allow for real game play for your students. Remember that receiving serve is one of the most difficult skills of the game. Beginning games with a free ball toss will structure your students for success and enable them to focus on solving the tactical problems of volleyball.
2. Encourage a no ace rule or cooperative serve rule. After you introduce the serve into the game you should establish a no ace rule, which makes serve receive easier for a while.
3. Add volleyball courts by using badminton courts. Use badminton course (nets and lines) to make better use of facilities and equipment. This allows more game play and practice.
4. Practice variations. Here is a list of ways you can vary practice tasks:
a. Vary number of passers.
b. Vary initial starting point for serve or receive.
c. Vary flight of ball.
d. Vary speed of ball.
e. Use one or two sides of the court.
f. Vary types of serve.
g. Vary areas of the court to serve to or receive in.
h. Add hitters, blockers, and diggers.
1. Use badminton courts. We have had success using badminton course with lower nets, providing you with tennis indoors.
2. Use foam tennis balls. Foam tennis balls help increase tactical understanding and game performance early in a unit because they slow down game play.
3. Use racquetball racquets. Racquetball racquets help lower ability students master difficult techniques because they are shorter and easier to manipulate.
4. Use alternatives to a regulation game. As you will read in the following lessons we encourage implementing one-point games into teaching. We also suggest deuce games and no-ad games (four-point games) as alternatives to regulation scored games.
Students will ideally work in pairs during badminton instruction. This enables them to play singles games and practice the related tactics and skills. It is also easy for the teacher to combine skills. It is also easy for the teacher to combine groups for doubles practice and competition later. Play singles games on half a badminton court because this provides a long, thin playing area, which emphasizes the front and back of the court as primary spaces to attack during the game. One court for every four participants is ideal, though these facilities may not be available. Where space is short there are several options:
1. It is possible to set up nets down the length of a court and, with the addition of some lines, set up minicourts that go across the regulation court. Though not ideal for high school students, elementary and middle school students will have sufficient space in which to work.
2. You can use spaces between courts with the addition of some string to connect net posts.
3. You can rotate players on and off court, though this will decrease activity time for all students and clearly is not preferable.