PICKLEBALL

GRADE

SKILLS	5	6	7	8	ACTIVITY PROGRESSION
Grip	I	R	M	A	Grip and Swing
Strokes: forehand and backhand	I	R	M	A	Individual Juggle / Partner Juggle
Stance and Movement: ready position and footwork	I	R	M	A	Shadow Drills
Serve	I	R	M	M	Wall Volley
8 Shots: forehand and backhand drop, drive, smash and lob	I	R	M	M	Partner Rally
Individual offense	I	R	M	M	1 on 1 Pickleball / Four Square Pickleball
Individual defense	I	R	M	M	Challenge Tournament / Continuous Action Tournament

I = INTRODUCE / R = REVIEW / M = MASTER / A = APPLY / O = OPTIONAL

ACTIVITIES FOR PRACTICING GRIP AND STROKES:

GRIP AND SWING: Each player has a racket. Player A practices spinning the racket in the hand and stopping the racket with the proper grip. On command A grips the racket and executes the proper forehand and backhand stroke. The grip remains the same for all strokes.

INDIVIDUAL JUGGLE: Each player has a racket and ball. Player A places the ball on the racket in the forehand position. A tries to "juggle" the ball by using a forehand stroke to keep the ball up in the air while staying in his/her space. A may choose to count the number of consecutive times he/she can hit the ball up in the air without missing. If A masters the forehand juggle he/she can be challenged to juggle in the same manner using the backhand stroke. If A masters the backhand juggle he/she can be challenged to juggle in the same manner, alternating forehand and backhand strokes.

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PARTNER JUGGLE: A and B are partners. A and B face each other about 5’-10’ apart. A begins by juggling in the same manner as the Individual Juggle activity listed above. At any time A can pass the ball 5’-10’ in the air to B. B juggles the ball in the same manner. At any time B can pass the ball back to A in the same manner. Partners may choose to count the number of consecutive juggles they make as a team. They may also choose to juggle backhand or alternate forehand and backhand as explained in the Individual Juggle activity listed above.

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ACTIVITIES FOR PRACTICING ALL OF THE SKILLS LISTED ABOVE:

SHADOW DRILLS: Players spread out with an equal amount of space (8’-10’) between them. One or two students may be chosen to help demonstrate. The teacher and demonstrators are in the front of the gym. All players are instructed to "shadow" the teacher by doing everything he/she does. The teacher and the demonstrators turn their backs to the players. This allows the players to shadow their movements. The players are verbally instructed while they "shadow" the following progression of movements:

Proper grip, ready position, forehand and backhand strokes.
Proper footwork in moving forward, backward, side to side and diagonally (simulating all footwork used in a game).
Proper footwork (as described above) combined with forehand and backhand strokes and returning to the ready position in the center of the court after each stroke.
Full game conditions: executing all serves and shots from a variety of positions.

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MODIFICATION: The teacher and demonstrators can also face the players. Players are again instructed to follow the teacher’s movements. The same progression can be repeated. The only difference would be when the teacher executes a forehand shot the players would be executing a backhand shot and vice versa.

WALL VOLLEY: Each player is assigned a space 5’-10’ from a wall. Player A begins by legally serving the ball off the wall. A must let the ball bounce as in regular pickleball. A then hits the ball off the wall again. A may then play the ball off the wall in the air or on the first bounce as in regular pickleball. The activity continues in the same manner until A fails to make a fair return. A may choose to count the number of consecutive hits he/she makes off the wall without missing. A can only play in the space provided and cannot interfere with other players.

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PARTNER RALLY: Partners A and B "rally" on ½ of a pickleball court. A "rally" consists of serving and playing the ball back and forth according to the rules for regular pickleball. A and B may choose to count the number of times they rally without fault or error. A and B can practice all of the skills listed above.

1 ON 1 PICKLEBALL: A and B play a regular game of singles pickleball. They may have to play on ½ of a regular pickleball court depending on the size of the class and availability of courts.

FOUR SQUARE PICKLEBALL: This game is a combination of four square and pickleball. Players are divided into groups of 5-6. Each group is assigned a court.

The game begins with 4 players (one in each square). The squares are numbered 1-4. Other players wait for their turn in a line outside the court.
Player A, in square 1, is the server. A serves the ball to C who is diagonally across in square 3.
The ball is played as in regular doubles pickleball.
The player who commits a fault or error is out. He/she goes to the end of the line. The first player in line comes into the game in square 4. If a player is knocked out of square 1,2 or 3, players move up to the next available square.
The object of the game is to "knock out" the server. Player A continues to serve until someone in square 3 or 4 "knocks" him/her out (forces him/her into an error). When this happens, Player B in square 2 moves up to square 1 to become the new server. Everyone else moves up one square.

The game continues in the same manner as time allows. (See the Four Square Pickleball activity listed in the Activity Booklet.)

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CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT: This tournament can be run for singles or doubles. Any singles player or doubles team can challenge any other player or team. All games are played to 7 points by regular pickleball rules. If it is a doubles tournament, Team A can challenge Team B at any time. If Team B is playing a game, they have to play Team A as soon as their game is over.

CONTINUOUS ACTION TOURNAMENT: This tournament can be played as a singles or doubles tournament. Players are randomly assigned to the tournament bracket. Each game is played to 7 points by regular pickleball rules. After each game the winning player or team must report their results. The following is a description of a singles tournament. If Player A defeats Player B then A moves to the first open space to the right on the tournament bracket. B moves to the first open space on the bottom of the tournament bracket. Winning players move to the first open space to the right and losing players move to the first open space on the bottom of the tournament bracket. Players continue to play and be placed in the appropriate places for the time allotted. When one player wins the tournament, new pairings can be randomly drawn to start a new tournament.

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