Badminton: Serve Learning Curve in Ten Sets

Each student does ten sets of five long or short serves at a target marked with hoops, records the hits in each set and draws their own learning curve. Looking at the graph, each student spots when they improved, when they plateaued and which technical change caused the jump.

How to play

1. Explain the graph on the sheet (sets on the horizontal axis and hits on the vertical one) and review the two technical points of the chosen serve (4 min).
2. In pairs on each half court: one serves five shuttles at the hoop target while the other collects and records hits; switch until each has done ten sets. After the fifth set, each student chooses one personal technical adjustment (elbow position, contact height...) and writes it down before continuing (12 min).
3. Each student draws their curve and marks the moment of the adjustment with an arrow (5 min).
4. In pairs, students explain their curve to their partner: where they improved, whether there was a plateau and whether the adjustment worked (4 min).

Rules

• Wait until your partner is ready before serving.
• Nobody collects shuttles on the next court while someone is serving there.
• Record the real number for each set, even if it is low: the curve only works if it is honest.
• Switch between long and short serves only at the start of a new set.

Variations

Adaptations

• Wheelchair user: serves from the chair with a short-handled racket at a closer target.
• Visual impairment: high-contrast shuttle and a target marked with raised tape; the partner calls out where it lands.
• Autism: gets a sheet with the graph already labeled and a fixed turn structure with the same partner.

Learning goals

• Improve badminton serve accuracy.
• Plot and interpret their own learning curve.
• Link a technical adjustment to a change in performance.

Equipment for a class of 25

• badminton rackets: 30
• shuttlecocks: 60
• badminton nets: 5
• hoops: 10
• worksheets: 30
• pencils: 30

Teacher tip

Plateaus are normal and it helps to say so beforehand, so nobody gets frustrated if the curve does not always go up. Keep the graphs to repeat the test in two weeks.

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