Paddle Tasks

One paddle per player; one whiffle ball, racquetball, or tennis ball per player; several benches.

There are several different activities that can be played during the paddle tasks. Serve and Catch can be played indivigually. The student will need to find a wall to serve the ball against. Partner Serve obviously requires a partner for the game to be successful. The two children will stand about 12 or 13 feet apart, facing each other with a bench in between.

• Serve and catch - Stand about 2 meters( 6 feet ) from a wall. Using a bounce serve, drop the ball and serve it to the wall at about waist level. Catch the ball with your free hand after each serve. When you can do this five times without a miss, take one step back and repeat.
• Partner serve - Find a partner. Stand facing each other about 4 meters( 13 feet ) apart on either side of a balance bench. Serve the ball to your partner using the bounce serve; then hit the ball back and forth over the bench as if it were a net. Allow the ball to hit only once before hitting it back. How many times can you hit the ball back and forth without a miss?

To modify the Serve and Catch, the student could be timed to see how many times they could serve and catch the ball in two minutes. During the partner serve, instead of allowing the ball to bounce when it is struck with the paddle, the students must strike the ball in the air and not allow it to bounce.