Time:
45 to 60 minutes
Equipment:
Spots, racquets, small, soft balls, beanbags or Koosh balls, and one-ball cable
1. Welcome/roll call (3 min.)
2. Warm-up drills (5 min.)
Split the warm-up between the following two drills:
Free running
Children can run in any direction, anywhere on the court, being careful not to bump into anyone else. Ask them to run as quietly as they can, then as noisily as they can.
Run and freeze
With the children running, on signal or command, have them stop or "freeze" and try to maintain balance while frozen.
Slow stretch (2 min.)
Count aloud as the class performs the following stretches:
- Reach for the sky and down to your toes
- Arm circles forward and backward
- Trunk twists with airplane arms and feet still
3. Motor skills
Beanbag balance (5 min.)
Use a racquet and beanbag or other object and have the children:
1. Balance the object on the strings
2. Balance the object while walking to the coach
Sandwich races (10 min.)
Put the children in single-file lines at the baseline, keeping the teams to five or fewer. A parent-coach places a beanbag on his or her racquet and tells what kind of food it is. A child places his or her racquet atop the beanbag, then places a beanbag on his racquet, naming it a food; and so on. (Be sure children do not place too much pressure on the bottom racquet.) When the sandwiches are built, the teams must keep them intact as they race to a specific spot or see which team can go the farthest.
Throw three in a row (5 min.)
Place a row of balls across the court, just inside the service line, with one ball at each of the sidelines and one on the center line. (Or, use a small net.) Have the children start at the ad court doubles sideline, move to pick up the first ball and throw it over the net, run to the middle ball and throw it over, and then to the third ball.
- A parent-coach can quickly replace the balls so the next child does not have to wait.
- Left-handers should go before or after the right-handers and start from the deuce side.
4. Racquet skills
Forehands on one-ball cable (10 min.)
Run a cable across the width of the court and hang one dangling ball. Position the children for the first forehand with spots. Let them hit forehands to move the ball along the cable. If necessary, steady the ball between each hit. When one child reaches the end of the cable, another child can hit the ball back in the other direction. This can be a great relay race if more than one cable is available.
Pop-up volleys 5 min.
Children are in a squatting position 3 feet from the net. The coach across the net randomly tosses balls to them. When the ball is tossed, the child pops up and hits a volley.
Practice suggestion:
Parents toss balls for children to volley back to them.
Play walk the dog.
