King of the Court

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• Skill: Reflex volleys! Lobs, and overheads. Practice staying relaxed in high-pressure situations (E.g., down in the game).

• Players: Big teams preferred. This is a fast-paced game.

  • Singles (3 player min; 7-10 players max.)

  • Doubles (6 player min; 22-28 max.)

• Goal: Be the reigning king when the time runs out. 

• Lesson: Doubles teams are more dangerous at the net.

• Setup: The 2 royalty line up just behind their service line on one end of the court. Their goal is to approach the net and end the point quickly with a volley. The commoners line up behind the baseline on the opposite end of the court. The instructor feeds the commoners from behind their royal majesties. (If the instructor is unavailable, one of the royalties may gently feed from behind the service line.)

• Instructions: Peasants become kings when they win 2 consecutive points. When royalty are dethroned, it is a magnanimous gesture for them to collect balls scattered on their side and redistribute them to the peasants.

  • "Turbo" Version: To make the game go EVEN FASTER, the instructor feeds volleys directly to the royalty from behind the commoners. After each point, the royalty must reset behind the service line.

  • Shot-Emphasis Version: Depending on what strokes you are practicing that day, you may choose to award an extra point for special things:

    • Winners are worth 2 points to encourage players to find the open court

    • If the peasant/s can hit 7 shots in a rally it’s an automatic point, which encourages players to keep the ball in play and let your opponents feel the pressure and commit unforced errors. Remember: You can always come back.

    • Winning the point on a volley from anywhere inside the service line, or on a lob, or overhead is worth 2 points.

    • Peasants are awarded 2 points if they end the point with a specific play (e.g., approach/volley combo, etc.)

  • “WAVE” Version: Multiple courts are in use. There is a high court and a low court. Royalty can move up when they win an established number of consecutive challenges. For example, when the royalty win 3 points in a row, they move up a court and the last person in that court’s line becomes the new king of the lower court. (This is a good initial game to play with classes if you to assess skill-levels.)

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Balls Up

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• Skill: Overheads. Volleys. Doubles communication. Simulate “must-win” points.

• Players: Team preferred. 

  • Doubles: ≥ 6 players (2 behind the far service line, and the rest as close to the back fence as possible).

  • Singles: ≥ 4 players (the “champion” receiving feeds from behind their service line, and 3 “contenders” queued up behind the feeder at the opposite baseline).

• Goal: Be the reigning “Champion” when the set time is up.

• Lesson: you can still win, even when you’re disadvantaged.

• Setup: This is similar to King of the Court, except it’s slower paced, the kings are feed the first ball, and the instructor will sometimes feed an initial lob. For singles, 2 players start on the court, opposite one another. The king (who receives the feed) is lined up on the service line on one end, while the rest of the challengers line up behind the instructor/feeder.

• Instructions: Once the instructor feeds the ball, the players may move wherever they want to play out the point. The challengers must win two consecutive points into to dethrone the champion/s. When champs lose their 2nd consecutive point, three things happen simultaneously. (1) the instructor yells “BALL’S UP” and feed a high lob to the opposite court. (2) The old kings exit the court (clearing any balls along their way) and yield to the new kings barreling around the net. (3) The new kings must race to the other side and play the lob successfully to start the next point. If they fail to return the lob, they lose one of their “lives.”

  • Simplification: If the new champs even touch the lob, they don’t lose a point.

  • Challenge: If the new champs miss the lob, they are automatically dethroned.