Balloon taps and relay
Ready when: nothing, this is the first card.
What you are learning
To watch something in the air and get your body under it in time. A shuttle falls almost straight down, so every badminton shot starts with moving your feet to where it will come down. A balloon falls slowly, which gives a beginner time to learn this.
Words on this card Shuttle
- Shuttle
- The "ball" in badminton: a cork with feathers or a plastic skirt. It flies fast, slows down quickly and falls almost straight down. A foam shuttle is softer and good for learning.
Set up
An empty space 3 m by 3 m with nothing breakable in it. A balloon blown up to about the size of a head. Later a racket or bat. No racket? Roll up a newspaper and tape it.
Weather: any weather indoors
Show it first for the one teaching
- Tap the balloon up with a flat, open hand, so it rises just above your head.
- Move your feet to stay under it.
- Do five taps in a row. Let your child see that your eyes stay on the balloon the whole time.
Your part while they practise
Stand beside the child and count each tap aloud. Do not hit it for them, even when it is about to drop.
Step by step
- Hold the balloon in front of you at chest height and let go.
- Tap it up from underneath with a flat, open hand, just hard enough to rise a little above your head.
- Watch it come down and move your feet so you are under it again.
- Tap again and count each tap. When it touches the floor, start again from 1.
- After 5 rounds with the hand, do 5 rounds with the racket, strings facing up like a tray.
- Last round: tap it while walking slowly across the room and back.
How much: 5 rounds with the hand, 5 with the racket and 1 walking 5 min a session 3 days a week On your own: the whole drill works alone
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Keep it up together
You and your child keep one balloon in the air, taking turns, and try to beat your family record.
Who plays: the child and one grown-up, or two children. One balloon.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- The child starts with the balloon
- Take turns: one tap each, the child, then you, then the child
- Count every tap aloud together
- When the balloon touches the floor, the round ends. Write the count down
- Play 3 rounds. Your score is your best round
- Fair play
- The grown-up taps with the hand they do not write with.
- Points
- 1 point for every tap in a round.
- Fouls
- The round ends at once, and you keep the points so far
- The balloon touches the floor
- The same player taps it twice in a row
- A player catches it or holds it
- Winning
- Beat your family record. Write the best score on a piece of paper on the wall and try to beat it next time.
- 5 taps for 1 star
- 10 taps for 2 stars
- 20 taps for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Throw and catch the balloon to each other first.
A racket each, or a shuttle instead of the balloon.
What you will see, and what to say
- the balloon flies off in all directions
Soft touch, keep it low
Tap from underneath with a flat hand, just hard enough for it to rise a little above the head. - the child stands still and reaches for it
Go to the balloon
The feet move first, then the hand.
Self-check
10 taps in a row without the balloon touching the floor.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains hand-eye coordination, moving under a flight.
awiseathlete.com/sports/badminton/badminton-b1