Brazilian Peteca: Palm-Strike Warm-Up
A warm-up with the peteca, a large shuttlecock with Indigenous Brazilian roots that is struck with the palm of the hand and kept off the ground. It gets the legs and shoulders going with short movements and introduces students to a traditional game from another culture.
How to play
- Spend one minute on the Tupi origins of the peteca and the technique: strike from underneath with a firm, open palm, never catching it (1 min).
- Individual: keep it up in the air alternating hands; each student goes for their best streak in 30 seconds (2 min).
- Pairs 3 m apart: pass without letting it drop; after five passes in a row, the pair takes a step back (2 min).
- Circles of five: whoever strikes leaves the circle and re-enters on the opposite side, so the whole group keeps moving (3 min).
- 2v2 mini-game across a line of cones acting as an imaginary net, with one-minute games and switching opponents (2 min).
Rules
- Strike only with the palm; catching or pushing the peteca is a fault.
- No one strikes twice in a row in the circles or the mini-game.
- Each group stays at least 10 feet away from the others.
- Hit upward, never toward a partner's face.
Variations
Easier
One bounce on the floor is allowed between strikes.
Standard
Solo strikes, passing, moving circles and a 2v2 mini-game.
Harder
In the circles, students may only strike with the non-dominant hand.
Adaptations
- Wheelchair user: joins the circle at a shorter distance and classmates send high, slow passes.
- Autism: keeps the same partner and circle for the whole warm-up, with the sequence written on a card.
- Visual impairment: uses a high-contrast peteca or a balloon with a bell, and the partner calls out before each pass.
Learning goals
- Activate the lower body and shoulders through movement and striking.
- Improve hand-eye coordination with both hands.
- Appreciate a traditional Brazilian game as part of the world's movement heritage.
Equipment for a class of 25
- petecas: 15
- cones: 12
Teacher tip
If you don't have petecas, students can make them from a foam disc, a small beanbag and strips of paper or feathers as the plume. It works well as a group task before the lesson.
PatioLab has "Brazilian Peteca: Palm-Strike Warm-Up" and 5176 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More warm-ups for High School
10-Second Cues: Rotating Student-Led Warm-Up
Each student leads one warm-up exercise for their group using a single cue of no more than 10 seconds.
2v2 Plus One Keep-Away Grids
3-on-1 Passing Rondo: Bounce and Overhead Passes
Three passers against one defender in a small square to warm up and practice the passes that beat an opponent: bounce, overhead and pivot-and-pass.