No-Bend Pickup: Racket Tricks to Lift the Ball

A gentle, challenge-packed warm-up where students learn tennis players' tricks for picking the ball up with the paddle and foot. It wakes up wrists and ankles and builds feel for the implement.

How to play

1. Each student dribbles the ball along the ground with the paddle, walking around the schoolyard (2 min).
2. Challenge 1: quick taps on a stopped ball until it starts bouncing up into the hand (2 min).
3. Challenge 2: pin the ball between the side of the foot and the paddle and flick it up (2 min).
4. In pairs: whoever gets it teaches their trick to their partner; finish with ten keep-ups without a drop (2 min).

Rules

• Taps stay soft; no one slams the ball into the ground.
• Everyone works in their own spot with space around them.
• If the ball gets away, walk after it.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with low vision: use a brightly colored ball or one with a bell inside.
• Wheelchair users: try the tapping trick from the chair with a long-handled paddle or with the ball on a bench.
• Easily frustrated students: trying counts, not succeeding; they can use the hand-after-bounce option.

Learning goals

• Build feel with the paddle.
• Warm up wrists and ankles gently.
• Pick up balls without stopping play.

Equipment for a class of 25

• beach paddles: 30
• tennis balls: 30

Teacher tip

This warm-up saves minutes in every later lesson because students stop bending down every time. The foot trick works better with tennis rackets than with small paddles.

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