Warm-up
Zip Zap Zop
A circle warm-up in which a clap and a word are passed by direct eye contact, accelerating until it collapses.
Also known as: Zip Zap Zoom
How to run it
- Stand in a circle, close enough to reach the people either side.
- One player claps toward someone across the circle, points, makes clear eye contact and says "zip".
- That player immediately passes to anyone else with "zap".
- The next passes with "zop", and the cycle returns to "zip".
- Anyone who says the wrong word, hesitates or breaks eye contact stays in — but the group acknowledges it and restarts the count.
- Increase speed steadily until the pattern breaks, then reset once and stop.
What it teaches
Focus and eye contact. It looks like a reaction game and is really a test of whether people are receiving before they send.
Coaching notes
Watch for players who look at the floor between passes — they are planning who to throw to, which is the same habit that ruins scenes. Insist on eye contact before the word, not after.
Where it usually goes wrong
Groups play it for speed and stop making contact, at which point it trains the opposite of what it should.