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Times Educational Supplement |
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Colourful blow up paper balls could help Britain’s future sporting heroes master the basic co-ordination skills they need to strike gold, ... writes Yolanda Brooks Sure to be a hit As the golden memories of Sydney 2000 start to fade, British minds are firmly focused on future sporting success. The unanimous message from victorious athletes at the Olympics was that the £60 million lottery funding made the difference between the one medal from Atlanta and the 11 from Sydney. In a timely attempt to raise sporting performance at all levels, the Government recently earmarked £750 million from the New Opportunities Fund for schools and communities to build sports facilities. But before children can step on to a court or pitch and pick up a ball, they need to develop co-ordination, agility and control – the building blocks of sporting success. It’s during the early school years that children develop the skills and self-esteem they need to build sporting prowess in later life. But it is also a time when they can be put off for life if they struggle to master the basics. Mr Stroud was given one of the balls – which are used as a novelty decoration item in the Far East – as a present by one of his students. It has been working wonders in his badminton classes ever since. “It was the answer to my prayers – my eureka moment,” he says. “I had been working with players with various disabilities for more than two years and I was looking for something that was easier to control than a balloon.” Mr Stroud was given a few more balls by his departing student and has since been using them in all his badminton classes and trying them out in primary schools. “The greatest benefit is that they give the kids time to work out the best way of doing particular tasks,” he says. “Time they simply wouldn’t have with any other missile.” As he demonstrates with Year 6 and 7 pupils from Kemble county primary school near Cirencester, the speed with which the children develop control of the ball is plain to see. Those who already good hand-eye co-ordination quickly move on to heading the ball and working in pairs to tap it to and fro. The children who are chasing the ball around at the start of the hour-long session quickly develop more sophisticated control techniques. Kemble’s headteacher, Barry Parsons, is impressed. You can see the children developing from tentatively patting the balls to moving them confidently,” he says. Once children have learned to control the ball, they can apply these skills to a specific sport The physical education curriculum demands that key stage 1 pupils “should be taught to explore basic skills and actions” and to “remember and repeat simple skills and actions with increasing control and co-ordination.” These paper balls certainly fulfil those criteria in a short space of time. Once children have learned to control the ball, they can move on to apply these skills to a specific sport. As well as giving them a head start in racquet sports, the balls will, Mr Stroud believes, benefit students wanting to play other sports including football, rugby, netball and even volleyball. “They could make a real difference to co-ordination and skills levels across the board. And because of their extreme user-friendliness, they could draw children into sport and activities that might otherwise not have occurred to them.” Round up: the balls move through the air slowly, giving children time to practise techniques. Mr Stroud contacted educational suppliers and sport associations to see if anything similar was on the market. Having drawn a blank, he decided to fill the gap in the market by setting up SportsPoints plus to supply them. “All the comments I’ve had from students, parents and professionals have been favourable and I don’t believe the balls have been used for this purpose before. It is a true innovation,” he says. |
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Badminton Magazine |
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Increased take up of Badminton with Plusballs The Plusballs Method which uses ultra-light, slow-moving plusballs in the coaching of Racket Skills, is well underway in six primary schools in Gloucestershire and will be replicated in many other counties. Qualified and experienced coaches are leading courses of ten, hour-long sessions in primary schools at the end of the school day. The balls provide the "hook" to fascinate and motivate children, which may develop into future long-term participation. In their first session, youngsters are able to maintain rallies, which would be impossible with normal missiles. What is more, they may strike a plusball over two thousand times in a session, compared with a few dozen in the case of shuttles or normal balls. Such success leads to a sense of achievement, enjoyment, increased confidence and a desire to continue and makes using normal missiles for introducing a Racket Sport to young beginners illogical. If Badminton and other Racket Sports wish to curtail the decline in junior and senior club membership, offering sustained courses of plusballs sessions to schools (with well-defined exit routes into clubs and sports centre groups for participants) may well be the answer. After all, if more youngsters have early positive racket sports experiences, fewer will find holding a racket or stepping on a court alien and more will persevere. Qualified and experienced coaches wishing to take the Method into schools (with excellent remuneration) or parents wishing their children to take part in sessions at their schools, please contact plusballs for more details. Roger Stroud |
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Scottish Badminton Magazine |
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Plusballs - Guaranteed success for all players Teachers, coaches and parents would readily accept that young beginners should use short-shafted, mini-rackets to bring the head of the racket closer to the body and closer to participants' range of vision, making it easier to hit the shuttle consistently. The same principle applies in tennis, with a wide variety of racket sizes and types available for beginners. However, using short rackets only addresses one half of the problem. Concessions are rarely, if ever, made for racket sports missiles which, for virtually all beginners, move much too fast for beginners to cope with. This is where plusballs come in. Plusballs are colourful, ultra lightweight, inflatable balls which move more slowly than normal missiles. Unlike a balloon, there is no knot to affect its stability so a plusball describes a slow, natural arc facilitating consistent, effective strokes by beginners leading to immediate success. Plusballs are not shuttlecock substitutes, since they are for close racket work and close rallying, prior to using shuttles or tennis/sponge balls. The main challenge racket sports pose for children (and many adults) is being able to rally. With normal missiles, virtually all beginners are unable to keep a rally going, but with plusballs solo rallies (keepy uppy) are immediately possible for everyone. I have taken dozens of sessions with young children, many of whom have never held a racket before, and after a couple of basic instructions I am inundated with youngsters coming up to me saying they have done 100 hits - then 200, even 500! With a shuttle or a tennis ball, most would be struggling to do three! Just imagine the confidence, satisfaction and sense of achievement this engenders - to say nothing of the enjoyment. And from individual activities, I move on to paired and group activities, all of which can easily produce long rallies. Early success ensures increased interest and a positive attitude towards racket sports which do not come about following repeated failures attempting to rally with normal missiles. If I take a group of teachers or coaches who want to know more about using plusballs, I conduct the whole session with the participants using their "wrong" hands and - for many activities - with one eye closed. This demonstrates just how easy using plusballs with their classes will be and teachers/coaches soon realise that if they can succeed with these restrictions then their young participants will be able to cope when unrestricted. Plusballs are not just for beginners. Because they move slowly, a coach can get his participants to use them to concentrate on a particular aspect of the game such as the grip, moving forward on the correct foot, racket angle, body position etc and then once practised sufficiently, these skills can be transferred for use with more normal missiles. Net shot rallies and practice are other areas particularly suitable for plusballs. I have found that a drastically adapted shuttle is an essential transitional aid for beginners and post beginners after using a plusball. Club and tournament players are familiar with "tipping" a shuttle to slow it down. The most severe form of tipping is to take a used shuttle and cut through the cage (which holds the feathers together) from the tip to the cork eight times - every other feather. Having done that, splay out the feathers by ruthlessly pressing them outwards against a wall or table. The resulting effect is to slow down the shuttle reducing the distance it can be hit and making it far more controllable. A similar adaptation can be made just as easily with a plastic shuttle. Plusballs are being used by the Lawn Tennis Association, dozens of Badminton Association of England registered coaches as well as hundreds of schools and badminton clubs. Numerous orders have been received from Scottish schools and sports clubs/centres. Other users include Sports/PE departments at universities and colleges, Special Needs teachers, physiotherapists in hospitals and children practising their skills at home. Roger Stroud |
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Customer Feedback |
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"We ordered 35 plusballs from you last year. I will be sending you a cheque for another 35. They really are excellent and the kids love them." Official, South Staffs Badminton League. “Thank you for the paper balloon - excellent. Can you send us 2000 please?” Director of Coach Education, Lawn Tennis Association. “They have been widely used and a huge success with my Developmental Coordination Disorder project pupils.” Special Needs Teacher, Perth Grammar School. “I am writing to tell you how excellent I think plusballs are. It was great to see the delight on the children's faces.” Badminton Coach, North London. "Thanks. The balls are just great! Our Primary feeder schools love them too. You responded so quickly and the plusballs have been so successful. We have OFSTED in October and would like to impress the Inspector with the plusballs." PE Teacher, Leeds Secondary School. “The patients all enjoyed playing with them. The other physios I work with were also impressed and consequently have ordered some.” Physiotherapist, Douglas Bader Centre, Roehampton Hospital. "THEY'RE GREAT!!" Preparatory School PE Teacher. “The physical education curriculum demands that Key Stage 1 pupils should be taught to explore basic skills and actions and to remember and repeat simple skills and actions with increasing control and co-ordination ... These paper balls certainly fulfil those criteria in a short space of time.” Times Educational Supplement Resources Editor. |
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Workshop Feedback |
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The best PE course I have ever attended. The workshop has encouraged me to teach the younger pupils - Yr 1 upwards - racket skills which before I would have glossed over, as everything you showed us was so practical. The course was brilliant. One of a few that I can adopt for pupils with both learning difficulties and behaviour problems. We both left buzzing about the whole experience. We thought it was not only excellent, but loads of fun. We both found ourselves telling colleagues and friends ……about how we had learned how to use our non-dominant hand. A real eye-opener and an enjoyable experience. I enjoyed the session thoroughly….an excellent morning - it is the only sports event I have ever been to where I felt I learnt a skill and achieved a specific goal that I will remember for a long time to come. An excellent session - fun but very useful for using with all ages. I have one boy who tries to rush everything and has poor co-ordination. He only managed to hit the shuttle approx 1 out of 5 serves. By using the techniques you showed us he managed 10/10 shots back into the feeder's hands. A new and effective way of teaching ball control and racket skills. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning ……… will be able to use skills either as class or small club for younger children. I thoroughly enjoyed the session. Plusballs are an excellent teaching aid for any co-ordination work and I will certainly be using them. Music and co-ordination was a new vibe for me - excellent idea. Irrespective of ability this style of training will be enjoyable for all young people. I felt the concept excellent. I really enjoyed the workshop - very, very good. I learnt so much in one morning! A massive well-done, for preparing a totally insightful, logical and unique workshop. |
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Frequently Asked Questions |
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OK, plusballs seem a good idea, but how do I use
them in my particular situation?
Why should I use plusballs?
How long do plusballs last?
Are plusballs suitable for older
children/adults? |
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Contact Plusballs
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Email: sales@plusballs.co.uk or sales@plusballs.com
Telephone orders & enquiries
We moved to new premises in Jan 2007 Roger Stroud (Director Plusballs, Badminton England Coach Level 2) |
Contact Plusballs
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