SKILL AND ACTIVITY PROGRESSION

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GRADE

SKILLS		5	6	7	8	ACTIVITY PROGRESSION
Grip		I	R	M	A	Grip and Swing
Strokes: forehand and backhand		I	R	M	A	Juggling Wall Volley
Serve: short, long and drive		I	R	M	M	Partner Serve
Stance and Movement: ready position and footwork	I		R	M	A	Shadow Drills
8 Shots: forehand and backhand drop, drive, slam and high clear		I	R	R	M	Partner Rally One on One Badminton Four Square Badminton
Individual offense		I	R	R	M	Challenge Tournament
Individual defense		I	R	R	M	Continuous Action Badminton Tournament

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

ACTIVITIES FOR PRACTICING THE GRIP, STROKES AND SERVE:

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.

JUGGLING: Each player has a racket and birdie. Player A places the birdie on the racket in the forehand position. A tries to "juggle" the birdie 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 birdie 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.

WALL VOLLEY: Each player is assigned a 15’ wide space, facing a wall. Player A serves and drives the birdie off the wall. A is challenged to see how many consecutive times he/she can hit the birdie off the wall. A uses the appropriate forehand or backhand strokes. A can only play in the space provided and cannot interfere with other players.

PARTNER SERVE: Players A and B are assigned to half of a badminton court. A begins by serving to B. A practices the drop serve by trying to serve the birdie so that it just clears the top of the net and lands just past the serving line. B repeats the same activity, serving to A. After an allotted period of time the players practice their high clear serve. B stands at the serving line holding the racket as high as possible above the head. A tries to serve the birdie over B’s outstretched racket, causing it to land just inside the back serving line. Player B repeats the same activity, serving to A. The activity continues in the same manner for the allotted time.

ACTIVITIES FOR PRACTICING ALL OF THE SKILLS LISTED ABOVE:

SHADOW DRILLS: The players spread out with 10’-15’ 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. The players are verbally instructed while they "shadow" the following progression of movements.

1. Proper grip, ready position, forehand and backhand strokes.
2. Proper footwork in moving forward, backward, side to side and diagonally (simulating all footwork used in a game).
3. 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.
4. Full game conditions: executing all serves and shots from a variety of positions.

PARTNER RALLY: Partners A and B "rally" on ½ of a badminton court. A "rally" consists of serving and playing the birdie back and forth according to the rules for regular badminton. A and B may choose to count the number of times they rally without fault or error.

ONE ON ONE BADMINTON: Players A and B play a regular game of singles badminton. They may have to play on ½ of a regular badminton court depending on the size of the class and the availability of courts.

FOUR SQUARE BADMINTON: This game is a combination of four square and badminton doubles. The players are divided into groups of 5-6. Each group is assigned a court.

1. 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.
2. Player A, in square 1, is the server. A serves to C who is diagonally across in square 3.
3. The birdie is played as in regular doubles badminton.
4. 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.
5. The object of the game is to "knock out" the server. Player A continues to serve until someone in square 3 or 4 "knocks" A out (forces A 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.

BADMINTON CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT: This tournament can be run for singles or doubles. Any singles player or doubles team can challenge any other team. All games are played to 7 points by regular badminton 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 BADMINTON TOURNAMENT: This tournament can be played as a singles or doubles tournament. The players are randomly assigned to the tournament bracket. Each game is played to 7 points by regular badminton 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. The 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 and a new tournament can be started. Another option would be to divide into 2 tournaments. The highest-ranking players can be placed in one tournament and the other players in a second tournament. The players can continue to be "seeded" in the same manner from one tournament to the next.