HLTH 2204

Curriculum Models in Physical Education

Games for understanding – A tactical games approach
Tutorial 7
Warm up
Organisation of Divided Court Game 1

• 1/3 of a badminton court with dividing line;

• conditioned game - ball delivered below the knees with 2 hands;
- ball allowed to bounce once on each side of the divided court.
Conduct rules:
• fair play;
• keeping an accurate score.
• not allowed to move with the ball
Procedural rules:
• end line for service;
• ball in or out;
• method of scoring;
• sideout
Tactical solution :
With the ball
• to send the object across the line so that it is difficult to return.

Without the ball

• to cover own court area to deny space to the opposition.

Readiness position

Volleyball is a sport which requires quick

reactions and rapid, controlled movements
over relatively short distances. It can be
described as a ‘readiness-state’ sport. This
state of readiness is required both
physically and mentally.

A sense of readiness can be portrayed by a

correct body shape.

Key characteristics:
• Feet shoulder-width apart.
• Knees bent and inside the line of the toes.
• Weight forward with the knees loaded
• Spine straight.
• Hands in front of the body, ready to move.
This relaxed, ready posture is the best position from which to move quickly and efficiently in
any direction forwards, backwards or sideways.

This readiness state is similar to that seen in many sports; a basketball defender, a
goalkeeper in football, a slip catcher in cricket are a few examples.

Specific Activities for Volleyball

• Headball
• Catch the ball through the legs
Beating the Ball

Rebound sports such as volleyball require very precise positioning by the student, in order for the ball to be
brought under control. Inexperienced players cannot compensate for poor positioning through superior strength or
adaptation of technique. Therefore, players need to arrive at the position where they play the ball in a balanced

HLTH2204 Semester 2 2018 Tutorial 7

and controlled state before the ball arrives. It is not sufficient for a player to arrive at the same time as the ball. The
aim should be, when possible, to ‘beat the ball’. 


Ideally, players want to time their movements so that they arrive at an interception point a fraction before the ball,
in order to be able to gather themselves and prepare physically and mentally for the ball contact. 


Practices for Beating the Ball

1. Chase It

Aim: To develop the ability to time movements in 

relation to ball speed. 


Rules: In pairs, one feeder one worker. A rolls the 


ball, B chases the ball and accelerates past it 

to stop it by sitting on it, facing A.

Teaching Points: Ready to go, quick off the mark, beat the ball. 


Organisation of Divided Court Game 2

• volleyball length court at a width an individual can stretch, with a net at volleyball height *;
• conditioned game - service delivered with 1 hand
- during play the ball is delivered with 2 hands;
- ball not allowed to bounce on either side of the divided court.
- momentum step only with the ball

Conduct rules:
• fair play;
• keeping an accurate score.

Procedural rules:
• method of scoring;
• sideout.
• net touch by ball on service

Tactical solution:
With the ball
• to send the object across the net so that it is difficult to return.

Without the ball

• to cover own court area to deny space to the opposition .

Strategical solution:
With the ball
• deliver the ball in a downward direction from a point higher than the net

Organisation of Divided Court Game 3

• volleyball length court at a width an individual can stretch, with a net at volleyball height *;
• conditioned game - service delivered with I hand
- during play the ball is delivered with power and placement using 2 hands after a self-feed;
- ball not allowed to bounce on either side of the divided court.
- momentum step only with the ball

Conduct rules:

HLTH2204 Semester 2 2018 Tutorial 7

 • fair play;
• keeping an accurate score.

Procedural rules:
• method of scoring;
• sideout.
• net touch by player reinforced

Tactical solution:
With the ball
• to send the object across the net so that it is difficult to return.

Without the ball

• to cover own court area to deny space to the opposition and be comfortably placed to play the object.

Strategical solution:
With the ball
• self- feed the ball to the net and higher than the net so the ball can be delivered in a downward direction from a point higher than
the net.

Without the ball

• defend at the net or off the net

Organisation of Divided Court Game 4

• volleyball length court at a width an individual can stretch, with a net at volleyball height *;
• conditioned game - service delivered with I hand
- during play the ball is delivered with power and placement using 1 hand after a self-feed;
- ball not allowed to bounce on either side of the divided court.
- momentum step only with the ball

• As above

Fundamentals of the Game

Controlling Space


Control of space by students, both as individuals and as members of a team is vital in the
game of volleyball. For this reason players need to have an understanding of controlling
their own space either in defence attack before they can operate effectively in a team
context.


The basic principles of controlling space are:

Base Position
The best place for a player to start from in order to defend his/her court is towards the back
and in the middle because:


i) it is easier to move forwards to play the ball than to move backwards, and


ii) taking a balanced middle position gives equal chance to defend to the left or to the right.
The idea of a defensive base position is thus established.

Read the Attack 


It is important to watch the attacker and to move to get in line with the direction he/she is facing, as this is the
direction in which they are most likely to attack.

‘A’ reads the attacker

l’or’2’, and moves
in anticipation of attack.

HLTH2204 Semester 2 2018 Tutorial 7

 Direction of
attacker and the attack.

Return to Base 

After playing the ball the student finishes the movement cycle by going back to
his/her base defensive position; therefore the cycle is as follows: 


1 Base

2 Move to play the ball 




3 Finish the cycle by returning to base

Attack from the Net

It is better to attack the opponents’ court from a position close to the net because this gives them less time to
anticipate where the ball is going and hence to defend their court.

Teaching Spiking

Unless the balance of the player is correctly controlled, nothing else matters; then
until the posture is correctly assembled, nothing else is relevant; then until the
player understands how to correctly assemble the touch point, no progression
can occur; then until an understanding on how to assess ball flight has been
reached, the correct positioning of the touch point cannot take place. These are
fundamentals and should be tackled in that order. Once some understanding and
stability has occurred in the player, the teacher can move on to:

- the technique of the approach footwork 


HLTH2204 Semester 2 2018 Tutorial 7

- the rhythm between footwork and jump 

- the mechanics of the arm swing 

- the quality of the hand contact



Teaching Progression


Step One - Establish an understanding of ball flight.
Students have to respond to the peak of the ball flight by moving into position and making a physical action e.g.
clapping, touching the floor with their hands etc. at the peak point. They should learn to understand to use flight to
the peak to adjust positioning, flight at the peak to re-assemble balance, flight from the peak to deliver an action. 


Step Two - Positioning and assembling touch point.

Reading the ball flight has to be linked to positioning the hips correctly. In the early stages, this is best done with a
ball which is fed by a partner who stands facing the student who is working.

Once the notion of aiming with the hips has been established, the students should be encouraged to use the left
side of the body to assemble the touch point.

Step Three - posture and swing



The key elements of controlling the hips and the position of the head should be introduced in a very simple form.
Asking the students to spike a ball onto the floor while standing can be used. The student should start with the ball
in his hand, breathe out to stabilise the position of the shoulders and the head, then swing their hand to hit the ball
off the ground without tossing it, or leaning forward during or after the swing.

Dowens T (1993) Teaching Spiking – A New Perspective. Volley Coach. EVA

HLTH2204 Semester 2 2018 Tutorial 7