Rally Ball

Game Category: Net & Wall Games

Type of Activity: Large Group Play

What’s It All About?

Sports such as wheelchair tennis, squash, and sitting volleyball can be categorized as net and wall games. In these sports, participants send an object into the opponent’s open space, trying to make it difficult for them to return it. These sports can be played using nets that participants send an object over, or against a wall. Implements are sometimes used to send the object. In this activity, participants are working in groups together to send and receive an object in a sequence to create a rally.

Did You Know?

• In Wheelchair Tennis, it is legal for the ball to bounce twice before it is returned. Participants compete in one of two categories: Open Class, for players with lower limb impairment, and Quad Class, for players with additional upper limb impairment.¹
• Para Table Tennis is a sport that can be played standing or sitting, and is one of the most popular sports in the Paralympic Games. In Para Table Tennis, for players in wheelchairs, the ball must leave the end of the table, not the sides.²
• Special Olympics Handball offers a series of optional modifications for participants. The length of the handball court may be modified to the length of a regulation basketball court, and lower ability players have the option to use a foam, air-filled ball for competitions.³

Equipment

• 1 object to send per participant (e.g., jingle ball, beeper ball, utility ball, tennis ball, basketball, volleyball)
• Hoops, foam squares, or floor tape for targets on the ground
• Pylons or floor tape to create playing area boundaries

Safety

For participant safety, please review the Disability-Centred Movement Activities safety page and the activity instructions prior to the activity.

Set-up

• Divide participants into pairs.
• Have participants create a target on the ground using hoops, foam squares, or floor tape.
• Have participants select the object they would like to send (e.g., jingle ball, beeper ball, utility ball, tennis ball, basketball, volleyball).
• Have participants use pylons, floor tape, or floor lines to mark the boundaries of their designated playing area.

Learn to Play

• Have 1 partner position themself on one side of the target, and the other partner position themself on the other side of the target, within the boundaries of their designated playing area.
• On the signal to begin, participants attempt to send and receive the object with their partner to create a rally.
• The objective of the activity is for 1 partner to bounce the object into the target and the other partner to receive it after the bounce to create a successful rally.
• Invite participants to position themselves at varying distances away from the target to explore the amount of force needed to send and receive the object.

Action to Play

• As a whole group, create a list of ways participants can send an object to sustain a rally. For example:
  • Send the object with their dominant/non-dominant hand.
  • Use more than 1 object at the same time.
  • Play standing or seated.
  • Use an elevated target such as an upside-down plastic box.
  • Receive the object in a different way such as using a basket or having the object land in their lap.
• Allow for extra bounces before receiving the object.
• Divide participants into groups of 4.
• Have groups create a large square, using pylons or floor tape to designate the boundaries of their playing area. Have groups use hoops, floor tape, or foam squares to create a target on the ground in the middle of the square.
• Each participant is positioned anywhere inside the square, but outside of the target that is on the ground.
• On the signal to begin, participants work together to create a rally. Participants must bounce the object once to hit the target before it is received by another participant.
• After a participant sends their object, they must touch a playing area boundary line or pylon before returning to play.
• Invite participants to explore how to adjust the boundaries, targets, and rules of the activity to make it easier or more challenging to create a rally, while being attentive to their safety and the safety of other participants.

Power All to Play

• Invite participants to explore the Action to Play co-created list of different ways to send an object when playing the activity.
• The objective of this activity is to work together as a whole group to sustain a rally.
• Participants continue playing in groups of 4, and create 2 teams: Team A and Team B.
• On the signal to begin, participants work together to create a rally as a group.
• One participant from Team A must bounce the object once to hit the target before it is received by a participant on Team B.
• Only 1 participant from each team can be positioned within the playing area. After a participant sends the object, they must come out of the playing area and then their teammate can enter to receive the object sent from the opposing team.

Play & Ponder

Use the following prompts throughout the activity to encourage participants to think about and apply the skills, concepts, and strategies used in the activity.

• Describe what you had to do to successfully send the object to help your partner successfully receive it.
• When receiving the object, describe what you have to do and how your body is positioned.
• When playing with your group, describe what positive communication looks, sounds, and feels like and how it helps create a rally.
• How can you adjust the activity to make it more challenging (e.g., alter the boundaries, implements, and/or objects)?
• How can you adjust the activity so that you are more successful at creating a longer rally with your group (e.g., alter the distance from where you are sending the object, alter the object you are sending so it is easier to send and receive)?
• When playing with your group, what strategies can you use together to increase your group’s chances of success in creating a rally?
• Describe other sports, games, and activities that use the same skills, concepts, and strategies like this net game.

¹Adapted from: Canadian Paralympic Committee (2023). Wheelchair Tennis. Extracted from: https://paralympic.ca/paralympic-sports/wheelchair-tennis

²Adapted from: ParaSport Ontario (2023). Table Tennis. Extracted from: https://parasportontario.ca/sports/table-tennis

³Special Olympics (2023). Sport Fact Sheet: Handball. Extracted from: https://media.specialolympics.org/resources/sports-essentials/fact-sheets/FactSheet-Handball.pdf