So you want to teach some Spikeball in your PE Classes?
I know how you feel, I’ve been teaching spikeball to my students for the past few years and it’s been a big hit.
Why Spikeball?
As soon as I played the game for the first time, I was hooked on how fun it was and I love how portable it is and easy to setup. Since I enjoyed the game so much personally I wanted to try and share it with my students, it’s got a cool factor that many sports don’t have and I knew my students would enjoy learning the game.
I feel that Spikeball is a great alternative to volleyball (in my opinion it’s easier and more elementary friendly) while working on the same skills and can easily transfer to play some volleyball type games if you want to.
The past few years I’ve been in the routine of doing a 4-Square Unit or Lesson at the beginning of the year and then circling back around to striking with hands by doing some Spikeball Activities towards the end of the year.
Another interesting fact about Spikeball is that the sport is actually called “Roundnet” and Spikeball is just the most popular brand that’s brought the sport back into popularity through it’s incredible marketing and awesome customer service.
How to Play
The rules are basically the same as 2 v 2 volleyball, but instead of going over a net, you spike the ball down onto the net across to your opponents.
Here’s a quick How to Play Video:
Hook Your Students
You can check out tons of cool Spikeball Videos on Youtube to show your students and get them hooked on how awesome the game, below is just one example of many.
I like to wait until students have had a chance to practice the game a little bit and then show them this video at the end of class, because they have a bigger appreciation for how skilled the players in the video are after spending some time practicing the game themselves.
Spikeball also made some cool Tutorial Videos on strategies for gameplay and strategy (Here’s some examples)
Starting With Bounce and Catch Stations
During our first lesson, I start my K-2nd kids off with some bounce and catching stations. My goal with this is to let them work on throwing the ball and learning about the angles and how the ball bounces before introducing them to actually striking the ball with their hand.
I review our Catching Cues of “Reach, Grab and Give” that we learned about in our Throwing and Catching Unit and talk about being in then partner them up and give them a few demonstrations and get started.
View this post on Instagram
Spike and Catch Stations
The following week with K-2, we transition into striking the ball or “Spiking” it depending on the terminology you want to use.
SPIKING / SERVING CUES:
- “LEGO HAND UP” – Strike it Down
- For the cues for the spike I use “Hold it Up, Strike it Down” to remind students not to throw it, but to hold it up with their non dominant hand and spike it down with their dominant hand
- Also I tell them to use a “Lego Hand” when holding the ball up, which is an awesome visual that you’re kids will understand – shout out to My Co-Teacher Coach Cooper for this great idea, once I started using “Lego Hands” to describe holding the ball up before a serve, my kids really got the concept much more quickly.
- Another thing I talk to my 3rd – 5th Graders about is the fact that the Spikeball Serve is the opposite of the 4 Square Serve that we learned in our 4 Square Unit. Instead of Bouncing it down and striking it up (which is a 4 square serve) they will Hold it Up and Strike it down.
I keep the format as the previous week for the stations to help with management since students are already familiar with the layout and directions from the previous week. (here’s a link or check it out below)
View this post on Instagram
Spiker Bowl ( Ultimate Spikeball )
For my older students in 3rd – 5th we get straight into spiking the ball and practice the spike over and over using some small sided team challenges in a game that I call “Spikerbowl” You can see an example of one of the challenges below. I use ultimate rules, but instead of throwing and catching, we work on the spikeball serve/spike.
Can your Group Spike and Catch it down to the other side of the gym and back without any mistakes?
View this post on Instagram
After my students get the hang of moving the ball I add in more rules, more targets and harder modifications and eventually even some defense to progressively make the game more similar to an actual game of spikeball. You can see an example below of one way to extend the game by scoring in a bucket.
View this post on Instagram
Spikeball Station Activities
If you’re a long time reader of on this site, you’ll know I’m a big fan of station activities. If you want to see an overview of how I use stations to teach and get our free 15 Station Signs Download check out this blog post. I love teaching some fun concepts and games throughout the unit and then having a station day to allow students to practice those skills, games and concepts on their own. This is also what I do in our Gymnastics Unit as our culminating lesson.
So for my K-2nd grade students I normally have a fun station activity day and put our our station signs so kids have a good visual and easy to read directions for the ones that actually know how to read. Example Below:
View this post on Instagram
Modified Spikeball Gameplay
With my 3rd – 5th grade students (and sometimes a skilled 2nd grade class) I will partner them up and take them through some different spikeball partner challenge progressions to introduce the underhand pass and overhead pass to them and work on returning a serve or spike and working towards combining some of the different skills we’ve been working on in a more open environment.
For all of these progressions I use our Spikeball Follow the Leader Pack and project each partner challenge up on the TV for my students. See below for an example. This Follow the Leader slideshow is available in our membership or on TPT (links below).
View this post on Instagram
After going through the progreessions we get into some modified spikeball gameplay. It’s a great way to give students a chance to work with a partner and get more of a feel for what a real game of spikeball feels like. We normally don’t get into a full on game, but by the end of 2 weeks I can get students playing some solid modified games where we follow a specific pattern of Spike – Partner Pass – Catch. I usually have them play for 3-4 minutes and. then rotate to a different net or hoop so they get to play lots of different classmates. See below for an example.
View this post on Instagram
Keep Score or Play for Fun?
You can pick whatever format you think will work best for your students. My students LOVE to keep score and I also feel like it’s a useful skill that kids won’t learn unless we practice it. Another bonus of keeping score is that you give your students a chance to practice being a Good Sport – which is one of the important values in my program.
For keeping score we use our Easy Score Keeper Cards to easily track score with a paper clip and then kids reset the cards after we rotate for each new game (see below).
Click this link to download the scorekeeper cards from a post and get some more info about how I use them.
Spikeball Spot Shot
If you’ve seen my Basketball Unit Overview or my Soccer Unit Overview, you’re probably familiar with the Spot Shot Activity below – it’s such a great activity for any unit and super motivating and fun for students. I modified it to work on the spikeball serve and tried it out during our last unit and it went great – check it out below:
View this post on Instagram
That’s It!
I hope that gets you started on planning a fun spikeball unit for your students!
Tag me on social @thepespecialist and let me know how it goes for you.
If you want to check out our Spikeball Unit Resource Pack or the Follow the Leader Pack which is available on TPT or as a part of our membership program, you. can see a preview of what’s included in each pack below:
More Spikeball Resources
Each of the resources below is available to all teachers in our membership program (info on our membership here), just login and download them straight from the membership area. They are also available in our Teachers Pay Teachers Store for anyone who isn’t a member.
Spikeball Unit Resource Pack
The Unit Resource Pack will provide you with a ton of printable resources to plan an Awesome Spikeball unit and save a ton of time.
Included in this download:
- Sample 3 week Unit Plan with lots of additional activities included
- 23 Printable Station Activity Signs
- Spikeball Cues Poster
- Spikeball Printable Certificates for your students
- Easy Scorekeeper Cards and Mini Tournament Scorecard
Check out the Spikeball Unit Resource Pack (TPT)
Spikeball Follow the Leader Pack
All of our follow the leader packs are a “technology upgrade” for anyone with a screen that goes along perfectly with thej related Unit Resource Pack.
Included in this download:
- Powerpoint Slideshow with all Animated GIFS for Spikeball Partner Challenges Progressions
- All partner progression examples without a net (bouncing off the ground)
- All partner progression examples with a net
Check out the Spikeball Follow the Leader Pack (TPT)
Spikeball Resources Value Pack Bundle
If you like what you see you can get all of our spikeball resources for a discount with the value bundle below:
Check out the Spikeball Resources Value Bundle
Thanks for checking out this post and let us know if you have any questions!
Darrin says
Hey There.
My students love spikeball in PE class. I like how you have some different strategies that can be used in my classes. One of the most challenging things within my classes and spikeball is learning the concept. Yes, students are moving however, we strive to teach perseverance and continue to practice. Can’t wait to use some of these skills and suggestions!
Marcus says
Hey Darrin,
Thanks for sharing! Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
Keep us posted on how the students are enjoying the resources!
lyndsay MCNABB LOCKWOOD says
HI
Spikeball looks fun – i’m in france, can you tell me where to purchase some sets please?
Thanks
Marcus says
Hey Lindsay,
You can find all of Ben’s recommended equipment at the link below:
http://thepespecialist.com/amazon
You can find Spikeball equipment at the link below:
Spikeball
Melissa A Larsen says
This is a great idea to bring such a fun game to the PE class! May I ask where you got so many extra balls? Is there a more affordable type of ball than buying the Spikeball brand directly? Thank you! You’re the best!
Ben says
We got some Slammo balls, they’re cheaper, but probably not as quality to be honest. Same size though and very similar. Here’s a link if you want to check them out: https://amzn.to/3kB0Se7 *BUT if there’s still a sale on Spikeballs website it’s actually cheaper to get a 10 pack per ball currently they are $40 so $4 a ball, which is a deal IMO https://spikeball.com/products/ball-kit-10
Deanna Lopez says
How many spike ball sets do you have to buy?
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Deanna,
Thanks for reaching out!
It depends on the number of students you have in your class. If you don’t have enough for a class you can always modify with hula hoops or buckets like Ben showed in the blog post.
Ben currently has 5 spikeball sets. I’ll place a link to where you can buy them on Amazon below:
http://amzn.to/2t0Kmet
Hope this helps!
Morgan Cleary says
I found your article about Spike Ball very informative! Your website has tons of different resources, I will definitely come back when I need ideas for different units for my PE classroom. Thanks for adding videos to help explain your drills. I recently played spike ball for the first time and I was hooked immediately, I love how easy it is to set up and simple to learn the rules.
Marcus Nellems says
Hey Morgan!
Thanks for reaching out! Glad the resources are helpful! Come back anytime!
Brenda says
What kind of balls do you use for Spikeball?
Thanks!
Marcus Nellems says
We use the rubber Spikeball that comes with the set. But you can modify with any hand-size bouncy ball. Example can be found in the link below:
http://amzn.to/2rH9W4l
Rosanne Fuller says
I love Spikeball. Like you I was hooked the first time I saw it. We used it as a unit when we had to do online and face-to-face teaching at the same time, and had to present the same material to both cohorts. It worked perfectly as most kids could find a family member to do it with at home.
I love that any skill level can participate and feel engaged, small team to ball ratio. It will be my go to net game.
Marcus Nellems says
That’s awesome Roseanne! Glad you were able to provide lesson in Spikeball for both settings, that’s pretty cool!