Which hand goes at bottom/top? When our hands are positioned on the bat, what shape do we make so we have a firm and balanced grip? What position should our body be in with regards to an oncoming ball? Where should our eyes be focused?
The class will be divided into groups of 3-4 students and have 5 tennis balls each. One of the students will be a defender positioned in between two cones (similar to a soccer goalie) whilst another student will be standing opposite and have the role of being the batter. The batter will hit the ball off a tee and aim between the goal to accumlate points, 1 point will be awarded for every successful hit whilst 0 for every unsuccessful hit. The goalies objective is to block every hit by any means necessary, negating points from being awarded. The third student will be positioned in behind the bowler as a bat stop to retrived any tennis balls that go past the goalie and place them all in a hoola hoop. Once all 5 tennis balls have been hit, each player will rotate roles and have a turn at batting, bowling and retrieving the ball.
If you have a group with more than three students, you could add an extra fielder in or make the space of the goal bigger but have 2 defenders. Making the goal space smaller if the group is doing well with their batting technique. If the sports coach deems all players are excelling, they may let them progress to an underarm throw instead of hitting off a tee.
The class is divided into groups of 6 with approximately 4-5 students in each depending on class numbers and will also have 5 tennis balls. One student will be a batter, while the rest will be positioned in the designated/coned area as fielders. The playing area will be divded into zones with the use of cones acting as boundaries for each fielder to be positioned in. You can create as many zones as you like but 4 would be optimal. The closest zone to the batter would be worth 1 point, the next zone 2, after this 3 points and the furtherest away would be worth 4. If the batter hits one of the tennis balls into zone 3 which is worth 3 points, the fielder will place the ball on the ground after retrieving it and leave it there. Once all 5 tennis balls have been hit, everyone will add up the points scored based on which zones the tennis balls have been hit into. Take all 5 tennis balls back to the tee and rotate positions.
Competition: once everyone has had a turn at batting, during the second round, players in each zone will become defenders - their job will be to stop tennis balls travelling past them into a zone worth more points.
Depending on the age/year group the zones can be spaced far apart making it harder to hit to the zones that are worth more points. Once everyone has had a turn at batting, during second round the players in each zone will become defenders - their job will be to stop tennis balls travelling past them into a zone worth more points.
Can use a tennis racquet to hit the ball with. Change the object the player is hitting - spike ball, Ki-O-Rahi Ball. Batter could essentially through the ball as an alternative.