COACHES GUIDE
LEVEL TWO
BALL TOSS
SET UP:
Props needed: One less tennis ball than the amount of people in the circle. For instance, if you are
working with 10 players (including you), you need 9 tennis balls.
Special note: This is a game that requires the team to circle up and the ideal number for that circle
is between 7-10 players. If you have more than 10, use your “coach intuition” and circle the
groups up so it makes sense based on your numbers.
Begin by explaining that in Ball Toss, they will learn to build and maintain connections with their
teammates, even during high-pressure situations, while learning how to stay in their lane. With
that said, direct the players to form a circle (or circles) of reasonable size. Explain that everyone
will catch and receive the ball once during this first round. To make this easier, ask everyone to
raise their hand and explain that once they’ve received the ball, they should put their hand
down. If there are multiple circles, have another coach or team leader be the initiator for the
other circle/circles while you lead your circle.
PLAY:
Begin by tossing the ball to a player in the circle and direct that player to then toss it to
another, etc., until everyone has received and tossed once. The ball will finish back with you or
whoever started the pattern. This will be the pattern that will be followed throughout the rest of
the game. Once the pattern is established with one ball and everyone knows whom they are
throwing to and who they are receiving from, toss the ball again to your original player. The
team will think they are doing the single ball round again but you will then introduce multiple
balls, at your discretion, but the pattern must stay the same and with multiple balls. You will
keep the pattern going for a few rotations round.
Eventually, you will put all the balls in play, causing a high-pressure situation for all those
participating in the game. Feel free to stop if it gets too chaotic, share some observations,
regroup and begin again. After you’ve played for a while and experienced chaos, balls being
dropped, laughter, frustration, improvement, etc. stop the game and ask them to try again but
this time, have them only focus on who they are tossing to and who they are receiving from.
Really stress this point. Stress tunnel vision and staying in their lane. Tell them to just focus on their
specific task at hand. That is all. Begin again with multiple balls. You should see more success
and a calmer atmosphere. Once the pattern has been sustained with minimal dropped balls,
begin cycling out balls slowly, one-by-one, until the group is back where they started with 1 ball
being passed around the circle in the permanent pattern until it finishes with you.
OBSERVE:
•
Stress that everyone has a part to play within a team, and success requires each team
member to play within their game while trusting teammates to play within theirs.
•
Acknowledge who had trouble keeping their composure, who got flustered when the
balls were dropped and who kept calm. This is intended to “call out” a player but rather
highlight tendencies we have in various moments.
•
Congratulate the team for finding success when they focused on two simple jobs
(throwing and catching) and not get bogged down by distractions or overwhelmed by
multiple tasks.
•
Point out if players used verbal affirmation to encourage, etc. when things got tough
and/or when the pattern was being executed successfully.
•
Players will often find levels like crouching, standing tall, etc. once you ask them to focus
on their “lane”. Give credit to those players if these type of “creative, natural solutions”
occur.
TIE-BACKS:
CONTROL THE CONTROLLABLES Have the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the
courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
DO YOUR JOB Know your role, and love your role, and don’t get distracted by what others are
doing, right or wrong. Stay in your lane.
URGENCY IS BETTER THAN HASTE Urgency can be a powerful motivator, but can dangerously, and
unintentionally, turn into haste. Learn to move quickly while staying in control.