Find-the-Flaws Warm-Up

A group leads a warm-up with four deliberate mistakes (order, intensity, technique, or duration), and the class has to spot them while doing it and suggest the fix. Students learn the principles of a good warm-up by doing, not just listening.

How to play

1. In the previous class, a group of four designs a 5-minute warm-up with four hidden mistakes, for example: long static stretches at the start, a sprint in the first minute, bouncing stretches, or knees caving in on squats.
2. The teacher checks the mistakes so none is actually dangerous and hands out one card per pair.
3. The group leads its warm-up (5 min) and everyone else follows carefully; whenever a pair thinks they see a mistake, they jot it on the card without interrupting.
4. Share-out (2 min): pairs report the mistakes they found; the leading group confirms which were real, one point per correct mistake.
5. Fixed version (3 min): the whole class repeats the exercises with the mistakes corrected, in the right order and with proper technique.

Rules

• Mistakes must be minor: never all-out sprints or anything that could cause an injury.
• Anyone who feels discomfort stops, even if the exercise is part of the game.
• The pair that finds the most mistakes and best explains why they are mistakes wins.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student can be the lead observer without doing every exercise and note technique errors.
• Hearing loss or autism: the card includes a checklist of mistake types (order, intensity, technique, duration) to mark.
• Lower fitness: the student does the exercises at a lower intensity and focuses on observing.

Learning goals

• Identify common errors in designing and performing a warm-up.
• Explain why a mistake can lower performance or raise injury risk.
• Apply corrections in a well-structured warm-up.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cards: 13

Teacher tip

This works best after you've covered warm-up principles. Make sure the fixed version is done in full so everyone is properly warmed up.

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