This ‘game like drill’ gives athletes game practice with varying partners and also teaches athletes to evaluate the major cause of lost points. Athletes learn to be responsible and accountable for their mistakes.
Set up
# of players : 4-8 players
Ideal : 4 players
Equipment : 1 ball +
Average duration : 25-35 minutes
Description
- Athletes play as they would in a normal game with the additional athlete/s on the sideline.
- At the end of each rally the athlete who is responsible for loosing the point is off and is replaced by the athlete waiting on the sideline.
- For beginners, to encourage the use of 3 contacts you may want to award a point for every contact on the ball.
- Often lost points are due to cumulative errors by both partners but for the sake of this drill athletes need to evaluate who made the most significant error to determine who leaves the court.
Variations
- Rotate between players
- Left and right
- Switch sides
Progression
- Athletes can start with 10 points and loose a point every time they make the error – it is the last athlete thathas points that wins.
Key points
- Coach can begin by evaluating who is the ‘weakest link’ and responsible for the error but then hand this job over to the athletes- this way the athletes learn to assess for themselves.
- Encourage the athletes to better the ball because if you ‘better the ball’ there is less chance you will be responsible for the error.