Badminton: Forehand and Backhand Underhand Clear

Cues- 
Forehand Underhand Clear- Forehand Grip, Point Shoulder to target, Racket back, swing, follow through towards target
Backhand Underhand Clear- Backhand Grip, swing low to high, Lunge, Swing, Follow through towards target

Equipment: Rackets, Birdies, Nets, Standards, Hula Hoops

Task 1- Students will be working on the forehand underhand clear. Students will be in groups of 4 with 2 students on each side of the court. One student on each side will be the tosser while the other student will be the hitter. There will be 8 targets in the back of the court on each side (4 in each service line). The student who is the tosser will have 5 birdies and will be standing on the forehand side on the hitter. The hitter will be in the middle of a service box. The other pair on the other side of the court will be in the same setup. The tosser will toss a birdie to their partners, who will use the forehand underhand clear. The goal of this task is for the students to use good technique to hit the birdie into a target on the other side of the court. After all the birdies have been hit the partners will switch roles.
            Extension- If students are hitting the targets too easily have the students focus on hitting a specific target.
            Refinement- Make sure that students are following through towards their target. This will help with their accuracy. Also make sure that the students aren’t hitting the birdies to low. The whole point of an underhand clear is to hit the birdie high and into the back of the opponent’s court.
            Application- Have students see how many birdies they can land in the targets out of 5. Each target hit is 1 point for that student.
 
Task 2- Students will be in the same setup as in task 1 except the tosser and hitter will be in the opposite service box on their side. Students will again hit 5 birdies that are tossed from their partner but will use the backhand underhand clear instead of forehand.
            Extension- If students are hitting the targets too easily have the students focus on hitting a specific target.
            Refinement- Make sure that students are holding the racket with a backhand grip instead of forehand. Also when students swing they should have their palm facing the ground and swing low to high.
            Application- Have students see how many birdies they can land in the targets out of 5. Each target hit is 1 point for that student.
 
Task 3- At each court, divide groups of four into two pairs; partners set up in diagonal courts with one partner the server and the other partner the returner. Bother servers serve and depending on where the serve is, the returner will either use a forehand or backhand underhand clear. Partners will reverse roles after 10 trials.
            Refinement- Make sure students understand that if the birdie is served on the racket side of their body then they need to use a forehand underhand clear. If the serve is on the side opposite of their racket then they need to use a backhand underhand clear.
            Application- Have the returner receive a point for every successful return and a point for the server every time the returner misses the serve.