EQUIPMENT
1 basketball
10 short cones
1 flag per 2 students
Optional: 1+ basketball
STORYLINE
Today we are playing Ultimate Basketball. Your goal is to pass to a moving teammate to move the ball down the court and score in your opponent’s basket.
INSTRUCTIONS
- I will divide you into two teams (using flags) and will select one team to begin with the ball at their end of the court.
- If you have the ball:
- You can pass the ball to anyone on your team, except the person that passed it to you.
- You must keep one foot planted on the ground (pivot foot).
- If you do not have the ball, you can move around the court to get open or play defense.
- The defensive team is trying to knock down or intercept the ball, but must stand three feet away from the student that is passing the ball.
- If the pass is incomplete (hits the ground) or goes out-of-bounds, the defensive team gets possession of the ball where it landed (even if the defensive team hit it last).
- We will begin a new round when one team scores.
Game 1: Teams must pass the ball at least five times before scoring (do not keep score).
Game 2: Give students a 10-second time limit (the defender counts out loud) to pass the ball to a teammate.
Game 3: Try keeping score. The first team that scores 11 points (must win by two more points) wins the game.
Variation: Consider adding a second ball to increase participation.
TEACHING TIPS
- Approach: If students are not involving everyone on their team, consider a variation where everyone on a team needs to touch the ball before scoring.
- Discussion: Ask students to share what was easy or hard about passing the ball to where their target would be (not where they were).