KS3 · Physical education · Year 9
Serving and returning
Net and wall games: overcome opponents in tennis challenges
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/10
Your learning goal
I can perform a basic overarm serve to start a rally and enjoy game play.
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Serving and returning: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
What you’ll learn
I can perform a basic overarm serve to start a rally and enjoy game play.
Key learning points
- Move: throwing the ball up high and just in front of the head with the non-racket hand requires accuracy and control.
- Move: rotating the forearm and snapping the wrist helps bring the ball down into court.
- Think: understanding the importance of a continental or chopper grip to ensure control and versatility when serving.
- Feel: commitment and patience is required to learn a new and complex skill.
- Connect: working with others to practise independently in small groups supports improvement.
Words to know
- net
- when the ball hits the net but goes over.
- second serve
- you get two attempts to get the serve in on each point in tennis
- double fault
- both serves fail to land in the court so you lose the point
Common mistakes
Pupils think they have to hit the serve as hard as possible to be effective.
Placement, spin and consistency are far more important when learning to serve.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Get pupils working in small groups of similar ability/expereince so they can switch partners regularly and progress to more challenging activities as soon as they are ready.