Dead or Alive – Spooky Tennis Challenge 👻🎃 🎾

👦👧 Ages 7+ (Titans/Troopers) | Great for Halloween Theme

🧠 Objective:
To hit consistently under pressure and stay “alive” while dodging elimination. Fun, silly, and skill-based — perfect for small groups (3–6 per round).

🎭 Story Setup:

“Welcome to the Haunted Tennis Trials! The land is full of tennis ghosts and creepy curses! Only those who hit well will survive! Miss too many shots… and you’ll start to fall apart piece by piece. Will you survive… or become a ghost?!”

🛠 Setup:

• Choose one shot focus: Groundstrokes or Volleys

• Coach feeds 3 balls per turn (or parents if helping)

• Line kids up behind baseline or mini net

• Mark a “Ghost Zone” off to the side

• Mark a “Revive Zone” (where revived players re-enter)

🎮 How to Play:

1. One child at a time steps up and is fed 3 balls

2. If they hit 2 or 3 balls well ➤ they are Alive ✅ → go to back of queue

3. If they hit 0 or 1 ball ➤ they are Dead-ish ☠️ → they lose a body part and try again!

💀 Stages of Elimination:

1. Lose an arm: Hit with racket hand only, non-dominant arm behind back

2. Lose a leg: Hop on one leg while hitting

3. No limbs: Sit on the floor and hit from seated

4. Fully dead: Lie down and try to hit a shot while lying flat 😵

5. Ghost!: If still unsuccessful, you become a ghost 👻 – sit in the Ghost Zone

🧚‍♂️ Revivers:

• If a player hits all 3 shots perfectly, they earn 1 Revive Power

• They can choose one ghost to bring back to life (tap them on shoulder)

• That ghost returns to the back of the queue as Alive ✅

While the kids are waiting in line, spots are designated for them to stand. Kids must keep moving (bouncing on toes); otherwise, they turn into ghosts.

🪶 Feathers (Easier Version):

• Allow younger players to skip stages (go from one-arm to ghost)

• Let them use larger rackets or foam balls

• Use tees or drop feeds instead of live feeds

• Reduce number of shots (e.g. 2 shots total, only need 1 to survive)

⚡ Progressions (Harder Version):

• Increase required hits to 3/3 to stay alive

• Add movement before shots (e.g., crab steps to cone and back)

• Add “final ghost duel”: two ghosts must rally from seated position to re-enter

🎃 Halloween Twist:

• Play with spooky music in the background

• Use Halloween-themed markers (pumpkins, cauldrons, skeleton cones)

• Encourage kids to make spooky sounds during ghost stage 👻💀

🏆 Finishing Options:

• Last child alive becomes “The Final Survivor” 🧛‍♂️👑