TBBF Game Workshop 2023

In one of the yearly TBBF workshops this April and May (You may recall the Art workshop covered in this blog post), the Game discipline took center stage for two days. Courts were prepared, technical and tactical exercises were top on the list and the participants ready – let the games beginn 😎

Rather than competing for 2 consequetive days, though, skills were build and sharpened to be ready for coming matches. But even for those who were not into competing, there was something to be gained. After all, no matter which variant of this discipline you favor, a skilled player needs to be able to play the ball to the intended spot. Be it where the partner is located (cooperating) or where the partner is not covering the court adequately at that very moment (opposing).

And how exactly can such skill level be achieved? Weight lifting, endurance training, target practice, …? Well, sure if you enjoy some or all of such preparational training options, you can integrate them. If you do not fancy them or you just want to get an idea of how to „get into the game“, than that is just as fine. It is all about what you want to make of it.

Not sure though, if a Game workshop is the right thing for you? Of course not every workshop is the same but you can get some impressions with the following videos and fotos.

Multi-Faceted Warm-Ups

Warming muscles, preparing ligaments and joints but most of all, ensuring flexibility. More than just your body, your mind is shfting into „BailongBall gear“ – making your movements elastic, round, holistic and reversing. All of it in a calm way, with concentration and coordination. This is the BailongBall way, along its four principles.

Sharpen body and ball awareness

More then just moving your racket with your arm, you move the entire body – you roll from your feets‘ instep to their outstep, you bend one leg while the other stretches, you rotate your pelvis from left to right and back, your abdomen and upper body follow those rotations, all of which makes your interlocked arms swing in semi-circles to each side. When you have reached the end of each side, the ball passes from your flat palms to your partner’s palms. Your wrists get to take a break – what a relieve 🏖️. Just add a net, lay a ball on the racket in your hand and do the same over – there you have it, four BailongBall principles in motion .

From pole to pole – use the court’s width

After „being stationary“ for our initial exercises, let’s get moving🎡 across the court, now. You want to use its entire width. The movements from the previous exercises come in handy, now. Just this time, you add some speed and more twist to your body. The result: the ball just passed from your net pole to the opposite one🗼. Not a bad move, is it?

Redirect the ball when it comes right towards you

You know how to move the ball from pole to pole but what if it comes right towards you⬆️, rather than „kissing the pole“? BailongBall is all about redirecting🥏 energy. Let’s see, how we can take advantage of this…

Redirect by pivoting and back-stepping

And if the ball flies right passed you 👀towards the corner of the front area? Again, redirection comes to your rescue. You turn into the trajectory, scoop up the ball with your racket, pivot on one foot, release the ball and break your fall by back-stepping, facing the net. The best part? The ball flies high🌤️ and across and by the time it descends, you are ready for the next one.

And now you serve

„Serving in circles“ – unique🦄to BailongBall. How🤔can you train accuracy, distance and velocity? Try this: start small for accuracy, increase distance and time your speed to be the highest right after receiving the ball with the racket. How? Have a look.

You’ll rule it

So you polished up😁your techniques and added some tactical finesse to your game. You may be itching to play a match but what about rules and referee? The rules on Opposing Net Front, Opposing Net Standard and Cooperating Net Standard you can read up on. On that note, though, let’s take a look at some of the referee’s hand signals🚦. Always good to know what those signals mean.