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Lesson 6 of 6
  • Year 9

Ladder competition

I can play a tournament and reflect on the performance of myself and others.

Lesson 6 of 6
New
New
  • Year 9

Ladder competition

I can play a tournament and reflect on the performance of myself and others.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Move: lifting onto your toes between shots speeds up reactions.
  2. Move: hitting the shuttle away from the better opponent requires consistent accuracy and control.
  3. Think: playing defensively and waiting for your opponent to make a mistake is an effective strategy.
  4. Feel: persevering despite the challenges shows resolve.
  5. Connect: working effectively as a team is achieved by supporting, motivating and encouraging each other.

Keywords

  • Exploit - identify and consistently target a weakness

  • Balancing competition - ensuring competitors are evenly matched to reduce the risk of injury in contact sports and improve enjoyment through fairer match ups

  • Ladder competition - an ongoing competition where players are ranked in a list based on performance, with highest at the top

Common misconception

Pupils instinctively want to work with their best friend and/or the 'best' partner.

When playing matches, it's fulfilling when a competition is balanced and offers an equal chance of winning. To achieve this, pair up pupils based on current performance levels or agree a number of starting points to give to one of the people/teams.


To help you plan your year 9 physical education lesson on: Ladder competition, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Think carefully about pairings in advance of the lesson to stretch the personal and social development of individuals. This is also best run over multiple lessons to experience the full flavour of a tournament structure in action.
Teacher tip

Equipment

1 badminton racket per pupil, at least 1 shuttlecock per pair, posts and nets

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
What is the easiest doubles formation to learn and perform consistently with?

front and back
Correct answer: side by side
covering diagonal corners

Q2.
What is it called when you adapt your plan in response to a specific situation or challenge?

a deviation
a strategy
Correct answer: a tactic

Q3.
What should your partner do if you move towards the net?

move to net
Correct answer: move back slightly
stay mid-court

Q4.
What is the quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity?

teamwork
Correct answer: commitment
emotional intelligence

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following helps ensure competitors are evenly matched?

play with friends
Correct answer: balance competition
equal competition

Q2.
What are you doing if you identify and consistently target a weakness?

analysing
Correct answer: exploiting
bullying

Q3.
What is playing defensively and getting everything back an example of?

Correct answer: a good strategy
a bad strategy
a poor tactic

Q4.
What competition system enables players to be listed in rank order and challenge up to 2 places above to match?

Correct answer: a ladder
a knock-out
a round robin