THE WHAT & HOW:
Using a tennis ball to develop "soft" qualities such as rhythm, timing, & coordination of the feet. Although foot-eye coordination oriented, full-body coordination is also developed as structure & positioning are key to successful & rhythmical striking of the ball. Be mindful of the tendency to 'block' the upper-body (holding tension) - maintain a light & relaxed texture & don't let focus on the ball overcome the greater picture. Move by coordinating the entire body and avoid lashing out with the extremities.

The tennis ball is a nice modality for these movement aspects as, unlike a jump-rope for example, the tempo of the ball is constantly changing (at will or otherwise) and the direction of bounce can be unpredictable. Further, power-management (how hard to hit the ball with the foot) and the 'use of a tool' (learning different ways in which the foot can be used to strike the ball) are also integral aspects of investigation. The ball are also convenient, transportable, and can serve as the modality for endless other movement tasks from "riddles" to a range of physical & cognitive qualities.

It is recommended to open such movement tasks as a staple "movement project'", during which time visiting it 2-3x per week for 20 minutes or so at a time is generally sufficient for progression through the "benchmarks", over time (there is no trick here - the work put in directly reflects the progress which comes out). It can be placed either before a session of practice whilst still "fresh", so that fatigue minimally-impairs quality of response, or in a dedicated 'movement projects' session to itself.

In the latter, it can be practice back-to-back or in a 'round' with other tasks, ideally ones which complement the qualities being practice, but at the other "end" of the kinetic chain (e.g. as FOOT-eye coordination is the predominant practice here, it would be well-complemented by a HAND-eye coordination task, such as JUGGLING). Keep the project open for as long as it takes to meet the top-end benchmarks, respecting that CHARACTER-qualities, such as patience, diligence, frustration management, and 'de-ambition' are both requested & cultivated in the process. Once they are completed, replace the project with another task.

Resource contents & milestones:

0:04 - Foundation progressions:
0:09 - Stationary bounce & catch (ipsilateral)
0:28 - Stationary bounce & catch (contralateral)
MILESTONES: work toward 1 min, 2 min, & 3 min "benchmarks" for unbroken dribbling

0:47 - Walking dribble (alternating feet)
MILESTONES: work toward 1 min, 2 min, & 3 min "benchmarks" for unbroken dribbling

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