Learner worksheet: observe, decide, explain
Name: ____ Date: ______
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
- Reconstruct a ball’s journey in the correct order.
- Distinguish a service situation from an established rally.
- Decide whether play continues, a serve is repeated, a second serve follows or a pair wins the point.
- Support a decision with a rule reference and the decisive observation.
For every scenario, write your decision, explain which event matters and record the rule you used. Assume all unmentioned actions are legal. A and B are opposing pairs. Glass means a court wall; mesh means the metallic fence. These are invented classroom situations.
Do not consult the answer sheets until your teacher releases them.
| Number | Situation | Decision | Decisive observation and rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A's first serve is struck above the server's waist. It lands in the intended receiving box. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 2 | A's first serve lands inside the correct receiving box, then touches mesh before another bounce or any receiver contact. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 3 | A's serve lands in the correct receiving box, rebounds from glass and is returned by B before another floor bounce. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 4 | B volleys A's otherwise legal serve before it touches the floor. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 5 | After a first-service fault, A's second serve clips the net, lands in the correct receiving box and bounces again without touching mesh or a player. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 6 | During a rally, A's shot crosses the net and hits B's back glass before touching B's floor. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 7 | During a rally, A's shot bounces on B's floor, rebounds from mesh and is returned by B before another floor bounce. | ________________ | ________________ |
| 8 | During a rally, B watches A's shot bounce on B's floor, rebound from glass and bounce on B's floor again. B then strikes it. | ________________ | ________________ |
Worked decisions — teacher reveal
Example A: A serve lands on the receiving-box boundary. Decision: in; boundary lines count. Follow the landing, then check subsequent events. Rule 7.1(c).
Example B: A rally shot rebounds from the striker’s own glass into the opponents’ court. Decision: valid return. Rule 14.1(b).
References: FIP Rules of Padel, pp. 15 and 18.
Worksheet answer key
- Second serve: contact was too high. Rules 6.4 and 7.1(a).
- Second serve: mesh contact invalidates this first serve. Rule 7.1(e).
- Play continues: glass does not invalidate that return. Rules 8.1 and 12.3–4.
- A wins: the receiver cannot volley the serve. Rule 8.5.
- Repeat the second serve: the net service does not restore two serves. Rule 9.1(a), 2(c).
- B wins: A’s shot reached the opposing wall before the floor. Rule 13.1(g).
- Play continues: mesh after a rally bounce is permitted. Rule 12.3–4.
- A wins: B allowed a second floor bounce. Rule 13.1(c).
References: FIP Rules of Padel, pp. 14–17.
Teacher lesson plan
Audience: Secondary learners and adult beginners. Prior playing experience is unnecessary. The educational audience is a teaching choice, not a competition age category.
Materials: Learner sheets, separately held answer sheets, pencils, blank paper, a board and access to the cited rulebook. Optional: a court diagram, counters and a ball for tabletop demonstrations. No court is required.
Preparation: Print only the learner blocks for initial distribution. Keep both answer blocks separate. Prepare two opposing court halves on the board and label floor, glass and mesh. Open Rules 6–9 and 12–14 for shared reference.
45-minute sequence:
- 0–5 minutes: Ask learners to describe what information an official would need before making a decision. Collect observations without evaluating the worksheet cases.
- 5–12 minutes: Reveal the two worked examples separately. Model identifying the phase of play, sequencing contacts and finding the relevant passage.
- 12–25 minutes: Learners complete all eight decisions independently, then compare reasoning in pairs. Require an explanation before accepting a decision.
- 25–35 minutes: Release the answer key. Pairs annotate changes in a different colour and identify which observation changed their judgement.
- 35–42 minutes: Groups invent a new hypothetical incident and exchange it. Ask the receiving group to identify any missing information before deciding.
- 42–45 minutes: Exit ticket: select one decision, name the controlling rule and explain the decisive event in one sentence.
Assessment: Award one mark for each decision and one for a relevant explanation with a suitable rule reference: 16 available. Use errors diagnostically rather than presenting this as an official qualification.
Teacher notes and scope
Review status: Draft teaching resource for editorial review.
The lesson addresses selected standard doubles decisions. It is not a complete officiating course. No junior, school, national or tour-specific adaptations have been verified here. Before using it to prepare entrants for a named competition, check that event’s regulations. Out-of-court retrieval and scoring-format choices are outside this lesson.
Support: Let learners draw numbered contact sequences or move a counter across a court sketch. Read situations aloud without adding clues. Accept an oral explanation where writing would obscure understanding.
Challenge: Ask learners to identify the minimum additional information needed for an incomplete incident. Evaluate the precision of their question before evaluating their proposed decision.
Practical delivery: Use tabletop demonstrations by default. If moving onto a court, organise a separate supervised warm-up and adapt activity to the group’s ability. Do not stage collisions or attempts to chase balls outside the enclosure.
Printing: Distribute learner blocks first. Release worked examples during instruction and the answer key during feedback. Keep these teacher notes separate from both.
Further learning: Use the existing Padel decision quiz for follow-up practice. The Padel overview and serve rules guide provide related reading.