B. Active Living / C. Movement Competence · Active Living and Movement: Train, Plan, Stay Safe and Play Smart

Read and React: Dodging, Faking and Placing Shots Away from Opponents

C1 A1.2About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can dodge and change direction quickly to get away from a defender.
I can use believable fakes to make an opponent move the wrong way.
I can read an opponent's body cues and react quickly.
I can send an object over a net or line to the space away from my opponent.

Words to know

dodge
A quick change of direction to avoid a defender or a tag.

fake (feint)
A pretend movement that makes an opponent move the wrong way.

cue
A clue from an opponent's body, like where their hips or shoulders are facing.

reaction time
How quickly you respond after seeing or hearing something.

ready position
Feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent, weight on the balls of your feet, hands ready.

open space
Space where no opponent can easily reach the object.

Remember from Grade 6

In Grade 6 you learned shielding and fakes (shoulder drop, stepover, head and eyes) and used both sides in 1-on-1 situations.

In Grade 7 you'll focus on reading and reacting: noticing what an opponent is about to do, choosing your move in a split second, and placing an object where your opponent isn't.

Hook: the mirror game

Stand facing a partner. Your partner moves left, right, forward and back. Your job: copy them like a mirror. At first you're always a little late. Then you start to notice clues, like a shift in their weight just before they move. You get faster.

That's reading cues. Great players do this all the time: defenders read attackers, and attackers read defenders.

How to dodge

Get low: bend your knees to lower your centre of gravity.
Plant: push hard off the outside foot. To go left, plant your right foot and push off it.
Explode: accelerate into the new direction.
Change speed too: slow down... then burst. A sudden change of pace is often as useful as a change of direction.

How to fake

Make it believable: move your head, shoulders and eyes as if you're really going that way.
Then go quickly the other way, right after the defender reacts.
Mix it up: if you always fake left, a smart defender will notice.

To go left, plant and push off your right foot (the outside foot), then explode into the new direction.

If you are...	Watch for...	Because...
Defending a dribbler	Their hips and belly button	Heads, eyes and arms can fake, but hips have to go where the body goes
Attacking a defender	Their weight: is it on one foot, or are they leaning?	If they lean one way, go the other way
Receiving a serve or volley	The opponent's racquet face or hands, and body angle	They show where the object is going
Sending over a net	Where the opponent is standing and which way they're moving	Send it where they are not, or behind them as they move

Reading cues. Look at what's hard to fake.

Place it in open space

In net/wall games (badminton, volleyball, pickleball, table tennis), the opponent's position tells you where to aim:

Opponent close to the net? Send it deep, toward the back line.
Opponent far back? Send it short, just over the net.
Opponent moving one way? Send it the other way.
Watch their ready position: if they're not ready, a quick return can win the point.

After you send it, return to your base position (the middle of your court, a little behind centre) and get back into ready position.

Send it where they aren't: deep when your opponent is up at the net, short when they're far back.

Calm under pressure

In a 1-on-1, your heart pounds and it's easy to rush. Take one breath out as you go into the moment, use a cue word like "Low" or "Read", and trust your practice. If a move doesn't work, say "Next play" and try again. Mistakes are part of learning to read and react.

Worked example

Let's win a net-game rally

In a 1-on-1 beach-ball volley game over a rope, your opponent has just run forward to the rope to reach a short ball. They're now very close to the rope. Where do you send the next volley?

Read: they're close to the rope and leaning forward.
Choose: send it deep, over their head toward the back of their court.
Execute: a firmer, higher volley with a strong follow-through toward the back corner.
Recover: move back to your base position, ready for the return.

Send it deep to the space behind them. They'll have to turn and run back, which is hard to do quickly.

Just for fun

Heads, eyes and shoulders are terrible fibbers in a 1-on-1. But the belly button? It always tells the truth about where a player is really going.

Worked example

Let's beat a defender

You're dribbling a soccer ball toward a defender. They're square in front of you, weight on their toes and leaning slightly to their left (your right).

Read: their weight is shifting to their left, which is your right.
Fake: dip your shoulder and touch the ball a little to your right, as if going that way, to make them commit.
React: as they move, plant your right foot and push the ball left with the outside of your left foot.
Explode: accelerate past them into the open space.

A shoulder-drop fake to the side they're already leaning, then a quick cut the other way.

Hands-on activity

Read and react games

You need: a beach ball (or another light, soft ball), a rope or string tied between two chairs at about shoulder height, 4 markers, two strips of cloth or old socks for tails, a partner, and a flat, grassy space.

Warm up first (5 minutes): march or jog on the spot, arm circles, leg swings holding a wall, and a few gentle skips. Add side shuffles and quick direction changes.

Mirror (3 rounds of 30 seconds): one partner leads, the other mirrors. Switch. Notice the cues that help you react sooner.
Tail tag (5 rounds): tuck a cloth tail in your waistband at the back. In a 10 m × 10 m square, try to grab your partner's tail while protecting your own. Use dodges, fakes and changes of speed. No pushing or grabbing clothes.
Rope volley (first to 11): volley the beach ball over the rope. Score when it lands in your opponent's court. Aim away from your opponent and return to base after each hit.
After each game, name one cue you read and one fake or placement that worked.

Safety: Flat ground without holes; clear of trees, fences and roads; no contact in tail tag; water breaks.

Your turn

Name the four steps of a good dodge.

To dodge to the left, which foot do you plant and push off?

As a defender, why should you watch an attacker's hips instead of their head?

In a net game, your opponent is standing far back from the net. Where should you send it?

What makes a fake work?

Play mirror with a partner for 30 seconds. What does good reacting look like?

More practice: warm-up

What is a fake?

Describe the ready position.

What should you do after sending the ball in a net game?

Name one cue you can read from a badminton opponent.

Besides changing direction, what else can help you get away from a defender?

More practice: on your own

You always fake left and go right. Why might this stop working?

In rope volley, your opponent is moving quickly to their right to reach the ball. Where should you send your return?

Why is getting low important for dodging?

A defender is leaning hard to their right. Which way should you go, as the attacker facing them?

You lost three 1-on-1s in a row and feel frustrated. What could you do to reset?

Challenge

In a ruler-drop test (a partner drops a ruler and you catch it as fast as you can), your reaction time was 0.25 s on Monday and 0.21 s on Friday. By what percent did it improve?

Explain how a badminton player can use the same cue-reading and placement ideas as a volleyball player.

Plan a 2-move combination to beat a defender in ultimate when you're trying to get open for a catch.

Check your understanding

Quiz

To dodge to the right, you should plant and push off your:

A defender should watch an attacker's:

Your net-game opponent is right at the net. Where should you send it?

Which makes a fake more likely to work?

After sending a shuttle over the net, you should:

Which helps you stay calm in a 1-on-1?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 7 students apply movement skills while responding to others: dodging, faking, reading cues, and sending objects away from opponents in net/wall games.

How to help at home:

Play mirror or tail tag; praise quick reactions and smart fakes.
Play a simple net game over a rope between chairs.
Ask, "Where was the open space?"

Common difficulties:

Standing tall when dodging. Cue "get low."
Watching the ball instead of the opponent. Cue "read their position."
Not recovering to base. Say "Base!" after every hit.

Safety: Flat ground without holes, soft balls, clear space away from trees, fences and roads, and no contact in tag games. A balloon is not used in this lesson because balloon pieces are a choking hazard.

Social-emotional learning: Staying calm and resetting after mistakes builds coping skills (A1.2).