Year 4 Net and wall games: tactics to overcome an opponent through pickleball worksheet

“Ready for the Ball” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 PE unit “Net and wall games: tactics to overcome an opponent through pickleball”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 16 to 18 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Ready for the Ball

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · PE · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can return to the ready position and play forehand shots with control.

A Look back3 min

1.
Put these steps for a two-hand catch in order. Write 1 to 4 in the boxes.
1. Close your hands around it
2. Hands out in front
3. Watch the ball all the way in
4. Bend your knees and move under it
2.
Where is the safest place to play a ball game at home? Circle one.
a clear space away from windowsnext to a glass windowon a slippery wet step
3.
Which part of your body tells you where the ball is as it flies towards you? Circle one.
your eyesyour toesyour elbow

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ali is at a wall. A ball bounces towards her right side. Watch what she does with her feet and paddle.

A garden wall with a soft ball resting on short grass in front of it, no people

Watch me

Start in the ready position, paddle up in front.

Step to the ball and turn your side on.

Swing forward so your palm faces the way you hit.

Go straight back to the ready position.

Now you

1.
After a forehand shot, what should you do next? Circle one.
go back to the ready positionstand still with your arm output the paddle down by your side

C Your turn8 min

Clear a space away from windows. Use a soft ball and a paddle, or your hand. A grown-up watches.

1.
Put the forehand steps in order. Write 1 to 4 in the boxes.
1. Swing forward with your palm facing the way you hit
2. Go straight back to the ready position
3. Stand in the ready position, paddle up
4. Turn your side on and step to the ball
2.
Join each word to the right coaching point. Draw a line from each word to its match.
ForehandControlReady position
Ball goes where you aim itFeet apart, knees bent, weight forward, paddle upPalm faces the direction you hit
3.
Kit's forehand keeps flying wide of the wall. Look at the chain to see what he did. What should he do? Circle one.
watch the ball on to the paddlelook down at your toeshold your breath and swing
4.
Hit 10 forehand shots against a wall, going back to ready after each one. Count how many you hit with control. Do this three times and draw a bar for each try.

Say it out loud: Which part of the forehand felt hardest: the ready position, the step, the swing or getting back to ready?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Ali says: “I can keep my paddle down by my side. Then I am ready when the ball comes.”

1.
What should Ali do instead? Write one thing.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Why do good players keep their paddle up, even when the ball is far away? Explain in your own words.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Ready for the Ball · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 1 Watch the ball all the way in · 2 Bend your knees and move under it · 3 Hands out in front · 4 Close your hands around it Accept Hands out in front and Bend your knees swapped, since both happen as the ball comes. If your child puts closing the hands first, ask: what happens first, your hands or your eyes?

2. a clear space away from windows If your child circles next to a window, a ball could break the glass. Ask: what could the ball hit in that space?

3. your eyes If your child circles toes, they are watching the feet, not the ball. Ask: where is the ball right now?

B

1. go back to the ready position If your child circles putting the paddle down, they will be too slow for the next ball. Ask: where should the paddle be before the next ball comes?

C

1. 1 Stand in the ready position, paddle up · 2 Turn your side on and step to the ball · 3 Swing forward with your palm facing the way you hit · 4 Go straight back to the ready position If your child puts the swing first, they have skipped getting ready. Ask them to start again from the ready position.

2. Forehand → Palm faces the direction you hit; Control → Ball goes where you aim it; Ready position → Feet apart, knees bent, weight forward, paddle up If your child joins Forehand to Ball goes where you aim it, they have mixed up the shot and control. Ask: which card says where the palm faces?

3. watch the ball on to the paddle If your child circles holding the breath, they have not spotted the eye fault. Ask: where were Kit's eyes when he swung?

4. Look for: three bars showing the child's own three scores, each out of 10, with the best one noticed.

D

1. Look for: One of: paddle up in front, knees bent, weight forward, or moving to meet the ball instead of waiting. If your child says Ali should just wait, they are still waiting for the ball. Ask: how long does Ali have to reach a ball that bounces once?

E

1. Look for: the ready position lets a player move quickly to reach a ball from any side, so the ball is reached sooner.

Words to use

Say“Show me your ready position. Where is your paddle, and where is your weight?”

Instead of“Just wait for the ball to come to you.”

After the sheet

On a clear floor away from windows, gently throw a rolled-up sock to your child. They hit it back with a hand or a hardback book: ready, step, swing, back to ready. Count how many times in a row they return to ready.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Forehand shots with paddles(with a plan)
Finding the Gap(with a plan)
Backhand with two hands(with a plan)
Forehand and backhand(with a plan)
Hitting into space(with a plan)

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