Badminton: Scrum Half - Shotgun Alley

Split your team into two teams. One team will be up to bat/kick and the other team will field. The fielding team should take up positions that they feel will be advantageous to their game plan - don't worry too much about over coaching this - players can learn as they play.

The fielding team should have a pitcher/thrower of the ball. It is his job to stand on the pitching mound and to throw the ball as hard as he can toward the hitter/kicker. The idea is to force the hitter/kicker to struggle to catch the ball. A bad throw is considered wide and three bad throws means the hitter/kicker gets to walk to first base. However, three good throws that are dropped will be considered three strikes and the hitter/kicker will then be out.

So the pitcher throws the ball, as hard as he can, to the kicker/hitter -who if they catch it can make a kick to space. The kick must land on the pitch, but can bounce into touch. If the kick is caught then the hitter/kicker is out. If not then they can start running. They need to get from 1st to 2nd to 3rd to 4th and then back to where they started in order to score a home run. They can stop at any base and be considered safe. However, runners can be called out when running between bases if the fielders manage to get the ball grounded at any of the two bases they are between.

• Tell you players the following......

1. There will be two players on one side of the middle line of cones, and another group on the other side. They will be two separate teams.
2. It's rugby tennis, so the aim of the game is to pass the ball in such a way that the other two players won't be able to stop it from going out of play, however.
3. The ball must be a normal rugby pass, and the ball must hit the ground inside the tennis court on the oppositions side.
4. The passer must be 2 meters behind the center line.
5. That's it, lets play.

• Within a group there are two groups of 4 attackers and one chaser/scrum half.
• At the middle point, marked by a cones, the scrum half moves the ball to the first attacking line.
• The scrum half firstly tracks the progress of the ball, as the exercise progresses - the scrum half should apply more and more pressure to the ball carrier - working up to the point of becoming a full on defender.
• When the ball reaches the opposite end of the grid, the last player in the line sets the ball down.
• The scrum half then feeds the ball to the next attacking line, fulfilling their own role within the exercise.
• The opposite attacking line should realign in preparation for the next attack.
• The tempo of this exercise should be high.

Tell the players the following.....

1. Each player has four poles and six balls, the winner is the player that hits the most poles - you cannot leave your cone and must hit the poles by passing.
2. You can only hit each pole once.

• You can make this game a little harder by moving the cones further back from the poles.