Time:
60 minutes
Equipment:
Foam or low pressure balls, racquets, beanbags, spots and small nets
1. Welcome/roll call (3 min.)
2. Warm-up
Walk the lines (5 min.)
Have the children follow the leader along the lines of the court, changing forms of locomotion each time they reach a new line. They can walk, jog, march, hop, sidestep, etc.
Slow stretches (2 min.)
Do the following stretches six times each, counting aloud to keep the class in sync:
Roll neck left and then right
- Circle arms forward and backward
- Raise hands to sky and bend down to touch toes
- Trunk twists with arms spread like an airplane
3. Motor skills
Frying pan tag (5-10 min.)
Each child must remain in the doubles court, balancing a ball or beanbag on their racquet. One person is the chaser, who must tag people to get them out. Anyone leaving the doubles court or dropping the ball off the racquet is also out. The last one in becomes the chaser for the next game.
Ball pickup relay (10 min.)
Place three racquets equidistant between the relay team and the net: one racquet on the baseline, one on the service line and one at the net. Place two balls for each child and parent on the racquet at the baseline. Children, or parents and children alternately, take a ball from the racquet at the baseline and run to place it on the first racquet. They return to the baseline to pick up another ball, bring it to the racquet at the net and return to tag the next person in line. The relay can be run in reverse to return all the balls to the baseline.
4. Racquet skills
Small-net tennis (10-15 min.)
Place children in doubles-team formation across the net from targets and the coach feeding large, soft balls. Children may have more success with balls tossed rather than hit to them. Parents and coaches can help the children count their successful shots over the nets and at the targets, and rotate players into hitting positions. In this last lesson, balls can be fed as forehands or backhands, groundstrokes or volleys, giving the children at least one trial for each stroke.
Racquet skills relays (10 min.)
Select the skill to be practiced (do one round each of forehand and backhand volleys and groundstrokes) and divide the children into two lines facing the net. Instructors toss balls to each child, one at a time. Children hit over the net and at a target. The winner can be decided two ways: the team with the highest number of target hits after a specified time or the team that reaches a specified number of target hits first.
5. Wrap-up (5 min.)
Thank everyone for participating. Explain the next lesson series and let them know how they can enroll with their friends and classmates.
