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kid DRILLS
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Backhand into wobble target

In this drill, the player works on hitting with high trajectory over the net. This exercise forces players to swing from low to high to achieve good consistency. Visual target gives immediate feedback to kids about the previous shot. Young players love fun games so coaches have to prepare the lesson with this thought in mind. More interesting targets we put on the court, more motivated the players are to work hard and fight. That's why coaches should always change targets to make a quality lesson with youngsters.

Backhand Drills

Balance touch cones

The player stands on the balance platforms. Cones are set around the player, with the player's goal to touch each cone separately without falling off the platforms. Balance platforms work best with this drills. If coaches don't these though use your creativity to find an alternative (stand on a bean bag for example). The important thing is to use something that is SAFE to stand on and ideally forces the kid to test their balance.

Agility & Fitness

Control Is The Key

The coach throws an easy ball to the player who hits a forehand shot back to the coach. The Coach then throws the ball back again but this time the player hits a forehand shot to the open space (deuce side) where the cones are situated.

Coordination / Fun Games

Forehand over the bar

A player stands on the baseline, with the target is set on the ad side. The coach throws the ball to the deuce side, and the player hits a forehand over the upper bar. Repeat this process. Hitting over the net is a priority while learning to play tennis because this factor guarantees proper consistency and ability to develop good strokes. The coach can encourage better kids to hit with topspin.

Forehand Drills

Ground-strokes rolling the ball

Cones are set on both sides of each player, Player 1 rolls all balls cross court. Player B rolls all balls down the line, with both players rallying together for as long as possible. Ability to control the ball in the easiest activities is important to further develop tennis-specific skills. Cooperation is of utmost importance for young players so this skill should be emphasized in each rally exercise.

Forehand & Backhand Drill

Make that backhand!

A hoop is set as a target in a standing position on the deuce side. Coach throws the ball to the backhand side, and the player tries to hit backhand down the line. The aim is for the ball to land inside the hoop.

Backhand Drills

Mini-returning skills with the cone

Player stands on the ad side with a cone in hand. Coach serves from the ad side. Player then catches the ball inside the cone and throws it over the net. During the first few tennis lessons, it can be too hard for kids to return the ball with the racquet. So the coach has to adapt to this situation and still improve returning skills; using a cone is a great opportunity to imitate a returning environment and improve receiving abilities.

Serve and Return

Serve it through the hoop

A hoop is set on the ad side in a standing position. Player serves from the ad side, and tries to make the ball land inside the hoop.

Serve and Return

Throw low rally

Targets are set to give a visual feedback to players. Players rally with each other, with both having to throw the ball below the upper bar. Sending and receiving are basic skills that all tennis players should be able to execute properly. Ability to catch the ball and throw it with a controlled motion helps players to learn tennis strokes in a quicker way. Coach should vary the targets of throwing according to the level of the kids.

Coordination / Fun Games

Zig zag up the ladder

Player goes diagonally through the ladder, using only little steps in between each space. In this drill, player works on speed and coordination. At the beginning, kids should focus more on coordination rather than speed.

Agility & Fitness

Dungeons Junior Tennis - Tenni...

Intention: Explore tactical development- "Over and In" and "Hitting into space" Each player starts the game with 3 lives (can be amended depending on time). Players at the front of the line take it in turns to hit a ball fed to them by the coach.  The players keep their lives if they successfully execute the shot by hitting the ball over and in. The player loses a life in one of the following ways: Hitting the ball out. Hitting the ball into the net. Hitting the ball after more than one bounce. Missing the ball.  Once the player has lost all 3 lives they are in the dungeon (coaches side of the net). If the coach or another player in the dungeon catches the ball without a bounce, the player loses a life. The only way out of the dungeon is to catch a shot from another player before it bounces, thus gaining one life.  The player with the most lives remaining at the end of the game is the winner.  

General

Developing Coordination- Progr...

Intention: Develop sending and receiving skills through the use of progressive coordination exercises. Following progression 2 Players stand facing each other on the inside and outside tramlines respectively (in a ready, athletic, gorilla position) Players have three balls, one player starts with 2 and the other with one, and throw the balls underarm between each other. The balls must bounce once before the partner catches the ball. Each player must throw the ball with their right hand and catch the other ball with their left. Once the ball has been caught it must be passed between the hands in preparation for the throw and free up the left hand for the catch. As players master a rhythm, they attempt to increase the tempo.

General

Basic Backhand Technique- Prog...

Intention: Develop basic backhand technique.Players line up on one side of the net with the coach on the other side of the net.Coach feeds the ball to the first player in the line. Each player hits the ball 3 times. Shot is a backhand played with a neutral hitting stance and the player is to finish balanced on one foot.Those in the line mimic the shoe of the player playing the ball. Once the player has had their 3 shots, they then collect 3 balls to return to the hopper before joining the back of the line.

General

Developing Coordination- Progr...

Intention: Develop sending and receiving skills through the use of progressive coordination exercises.Following progression 3 Players stand facing each other on the inside and outside tramlines respectively (in a ready, athletic, gorilla position)Players have four balls, each player starts with two balls, and throw the balls underarm between each other.The balls must bounce once before the partner catches the ball.Each player must throw one ball with their right hand and transfer the other ball from their left hand to right hand to then receive the other ball from their partner with their left.As players master a rhythm, they attempt to increase the tempo.

General

Forehand and Backhand Junior T...

Intention: Develop basic forehand and backhand technique.The group is divided into two- "Hitters" and "Fielders".Hitters execute the drill, whilst fielders collect balls. Change roles after each player has 5 turns. Coach feeds simultaneously to the player at the front of each queue. Each player hits five balls (outside shot) and moves off the court and returns to the back of the opposite queue (players will alternate between forehand and backhand on each turn).NB: Coach must continue to reinforce key teaching points.

General

Basic Forehand Technique- Prog...

<p dir="ltr">Intention: Develop basic forehand technique. Players line up on one side of the net set up on a short court. Coach on the other side of the net. Coach feeds the ball to the first player in the line. Each player hits the ball 3 times. Shot is a forehand played with a neutral hitting stance and the player is to finish balanced on one foot. Those in the line mimic the shot of the player playing the ball. Once the player has had their three shots, they collect three balls to return to the hopper before joining the back of the line. 

General

Floor tennis Aspire sport vide...

In partners, give each child a racket. Then, using the racket, the children push the ball to each other. They can stop the ball using the racket, then push it back to their partner when in position. Put cones out as goals to try to hit the ball through. Score points for stopping the ball going through.

General

Tennis: Over and In. 'Budge It...

Intention: Assess forehand technique whilst developing the principles of rallying. Players start on their various courts. Each of which has a designated score that is progressive (eg 5, 7, 9) and at the discretion of the coach. Where space is limited, courts can be divided in half or thirds to create stations. One player ('The Sender') starts each rally with an underarm throw to a target area on their partners side of the court, which is situated half way between their partner ('The receiver') and the net. The 'receiver', who is positioned roughly two racket lengths behind the target area, attempts to catch the ball after one bounce. The 'receiver' now becomes the 'sender' and attempts to throw the ball back, using an underarm action, to a target area on their partner’s side of the court, which is positioned roughly half way between their partner and the net. The pair must then continue to throw and catch the ball (after one bounce) using an underarm action until they achieve the score for their designated court/station. If the rally breaks down in any way, the pair must start the rally again from zero on the court/ station they are on. If the players successfully achieve the score for their designated court (or station), they progress upwards (one station) and 'Budge' the pair on the higher station down. If either of the pair lands the ball directly on the target area they automatically progress upwards (one station) and 'Budge' the pair on the higher station down. When a pair achieves the designated score on the highest (top) court they are awarded 1 'golden' point. When a pair successfully achieves a 'golden' point, they attempt another one until they are 'budged'. The game ends when a pair reaches a pre-set number of 'golden' points. Alternatively, the pair with the most 'golden' points at the end of a pre allocated period of time is the winner.

General

Catch the ball inside the ladd...

The player stands facing the ladder, and then performs jumping pattern (inside the ladder, outside the ladder, jump to the side). Every time the player jumps inside the ladder, the coach throws the ball to the player. The player catches the ball and throws it back.

General

Ghosts Coordination / Fun Game...

<BR>-Players hit one shot each and if they return it into court they return to the back of the queue, if they make a mistake they become a ghost.<BR>-Ghosts must go to the same end as the feeder. If they catch a ball before it bounces they come back to life again (swapping with the person who hit that ball).<BR>-The winner is the player who is last one alive!!

General

Relay race Coordination / Fun ...

This is a simple relay race through the cones with some fun variations for your players: First person in each team balances the ball on their strings moving around the cones to the net and back (like an egg and spoon race)<br /><br /> The ball is then passed to the strings of the person next in line, who repeat the run<br /><br /> The first team to finish wins the race

General

Mini-returning skills with the...

Player stands on the ad side with a cone in hand. Coach serves from the ad side. Player then catches the ball inside the cone and throws it over the net. During the first few tennis lessons, it can be too hard for kids to return the ball with the racquet. So the coach has to adapt to this situation and still improve returning skills; using a cone is a great opportunity to imitate a returning environment and improve receiving abilities.

General

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kid SESSIONS
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Making Slice Friendly For Kids

This session develops a players ability to hit balls with backspin.

Forehand-based Session for Kids: Ball Perception

It?s the stroke everybody enjoys playing the most, and can be the most dangerous stroke to play, so let?s enjoy learning it! See the kids hit forehands with smiles on their faces!

Federer's forehand for kids

Get your players hitting forehands like the great man himself!

Target oriented practice for kids

Improve your player’s accuracy with simple target games, which will leave them with a smile on their face!

Improving Key Skills For Juniors

Use this session plan to help your players’ confidence and skills grow, by putting in use of key skills that are required in the game.

Federer's forehand for kids | ...

Get your players hitting forehands like the great man himself!
kid ANSWERS
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I want to improve my tennis toughness & play more aggressively - any tips?

I used to play on clay court for 20 years, now it's been two years that I've been exposed to hard court. About my game%3A I have a very good technique on all my strokes including volley, good kick serve, I am 192 cm. My issue%3A I was not taught to play aggressively, now in my matches I don't take the net; consequently, in spite of executing a high level tennis, I loose to some players that I never should. I've read some tennis mental toughness books, I teach them, but I don't know how can I change my own mental set. When I hit top spin (groundies), I enjoy and feel secure, even though it results in my loss and sorrow. I'm ready for change but how?

Farhad Roshanaie Coach, United States of America

Best player - bad attitude/determination?

I have a learner that is super talented, he gets the game, he handles pace, power and depth well. He is aggressive and tennis just comes naturally when it comes to this kid but he lacks determination. I am really struggling to keep him motivated not to loose focus or to let one mistake make his shoulders hang for the rest of the lesson. Footwork is unfortunately a big problem and when he loses a point it's even worse, this kid is just draining me mentally every session, its a mental thing but i'm having trouble defeating it. If i'm too hard on him, he closes down and might as well stop and if i play too much and don't push him, he plays with no effort and just hit very sloppy shots. I do know that his situation at home is not good and i think it has a lot to do with his bad attitude on the court but i really need some advise, this is my hardest lesson to plan, what is most important about my lesson with a student with a bad attitude, no temper but just unmotivated and i don't want to give up because this kid really has the talent...he really can be the next junior champion in Africa if he really wants to. Would really appreciate some tips from the professionals that dealt with this before.

Archived User Coach

What to teach first?

Hello. I have question for you all. What to teach first, for example a kid who is 6 years old? I am starting tennis coach career, so I need advices of you all. Thanks. :))

Mateo Coach, Bosnia and Herzegovina

subscription

I would like to request that the last payment be refunded. I haven't used the system and thought I had already canceled my subscription. I'm not sure why the payment is still being taken out. thanks for your assistance. My kid used it for her football lessons and we thought we changed it over to her bank account, so I would like to cancel the subscription and receive a free refund please, because that £26 we need to provide for them

Olivia White Coach, England

Psychology in tennis HELP! My ...

Psychology in tennis HELP!!! I have a daughter who is an excellent player who only started playing tennis seriously last yr at the age of 13. She is a much better player than all the people she has completed against in matches but always loses due to over hitting and getting upset if the wrong call is made (which happens frequently due to how fast she hits and serves) do we need some sort of psychological help for this. what is the best way to get this... books, councilling ??? any help would be most appreciated thanks

Archived User Coach

Best player - bad attitude/det...

I have a learner that is super talented, he gets the game, he handles pace, power and depth well. He is aggressive and tennis just comes naturally when it comes to this kid but he lacks determination. I am really struggling to keep him motivated not to loose focus or to let one mistake make his shoulders hang for the rest of the lesson. Footwork is unfortunately a big problem and when he loses a point it's even worse, this kid is just draining me mentally every session, its a mental thing but i'm having trouble defeating it. If i'm too hard on him, he closes down and might as well stop and if i play too much and don't push him, he plays with no effort and just hit very sloppy shots. I do know that his situation at home is not good and i think it has a lot to do with his bad attitude on the court but i really need some advise, this is my hardest lesson to plan, what is most important about my lesson with a student with a bad attitude, no temper but just unmotivated and i don't want to give up because this kid really has the talent...he really can be the next junior champion in Africa if he really wants to. Would really appreciate some tips from the professionals that dealt with this before.

Archived User Coach

How to train kids with differe...

I train a group of six children on a mini tennis court aged 4-5. They have all different abilities. How do I give all of them the needed training without making it too complicated for some or too easy for others?

Mari Milos Coach, Sweden

How do I coach 14 girls (varyi...

How do I coach 14 girls, all of varying levels from beginner to advanced on just two courts?

Archived User Coach

Where do I find drill ideas fo...

Hi! Any specific category for drills for kids ?

Archived User Coach

What are usefull tips for a te...

What are usefull tips for a tennis lesson given to kids 6 or 7 years old, complete beginners and in groups of 12 kids ?

Archived User Coach

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