Time:
60 minutes
Equipment:
Racquets, foam or low pressure balls, cones, spots, teaching cables and small nets1. Welcome/roll call (3 min.)
2. Warm-up
Run the lines (5 min.)
Pupils line up at the baseline and doubles sideline to walk and then jog the lines. The pattern is as follows:
- forward along the doubles sideline to the net,
- sidestep across to the singles sideline,
- backward along the singles sideline to the service line,
- sidestep across the service line almost to the T,
- up the center service line to the net,
- sidestep to just across the center service line,
- backward along the center service line to the service line,
- sidestep to the singles sideline,
- up to the net,
- sidestep to the doubles sideline,
- backward along the doubles sideline and
- sidestep across to the center hash mark.
Walk the lines once and then run the pattern. Use spots and position parents to help direct children.
Slow stretches (3 min.)
Have the children count aloud while doing the following stretches:
- Neck rolls -- roll six times to the left and six times to the right
- Arm swings -- do six rotations forward and six rotations backward with each arm
- Wrist rolls -- do six rotations forward and six backward with each wrist
- Windmill toe touches -- slowly alternate touching right hand to left foot, then left hand to right foot
3. Motor skills
Parts of the court test (3 min.)
Line up the children along the fence. Direct them to walk, jog or run to the part of the court you call out, including the baseline, service line, T, singles and doubles sidelines, net, net strap, net post and fences. (This game may be played with Simon says rules.)
Relays (10 min.)
Divide the group into teams, including parents. For each team, place four cones equidistant between the baseline and net. In relay fashion, team members should perform the following skills while moving to the net and back: bump-ups, bump-ups with a bounce and bounce-downs (dribble). Place emphasis on control, not necessarily speed, as team members:
1. Go straight up the lanes to touch the net and return to hand off the ball
2. Weave between the cones on the way to the net and back
4. Racquet skills
Shot of the day -- backhand volley
Demonstration (5-10 min.)
1. Demonstrate and have the children shadow groundstrokes with tracking footwork and the forehand volley as previously learned.
2. Demonstrate and have the children shadow the backhand volley from the ready position facing the net with racquet centered. Show the differences between the pivot turn, no backswing, step, contact point and follow-through (bump or punch) vs. groundstrokes.
Volley progression on dangling balls (10 min.)
Hang up to five dangling balls on each teaching cable and place spots to correctly position kids. Do drills first with the forehand volley and then the backhand volley. In all drills, stress contact point in front of the children as they:
1. Hit a stationary ball steadied by a parent-coach between hits
2. Hit a ball gently swung by a parent-coach, who catches the ball between hits as the child regains ready position
3. Gently hit consecutive balls, using a compact punching motion and quick footwork to regain ready position between each hit
- Good drills for this are "10 Club," "20 Club," "30 Club" and "World Record."
5. Playing skills
No-net tennis (5 min.)
One-on-one, parent-coaches should stand several feet from children and toss balls to the children's forehands and backhands for volleying, stressing the basics of ready position, a pivot with no backswing, step and punch. Children should try to hit directly back to coaches and keep their feet moving. Begin reminders about precise styling of "turn/step/hit" sequence. Insist on considerable movement from each child even if precision is not yet attainable.
- Have a coach and student demonstrate before the class begins play.
- To keep balls from being sprayed around the court, position parent-coaches with their backs to the fences.
Small-net tennis (15 min.)
A good ratio for this game is one assistant or parent-coach who can control the ball well with four or six students. The coach stands across the small net from a doubles team and tosses balls for the children to volley gently. Let each child hit at least five balls during each turn.
1. The coach feeds balls to the backhand of each player during the first rotation and then the forehand. The children aim for targets across the net.
2. The coach removes the targets and resumes the drill by hitting consecutive shots to the team at the net, trying to establish the longest rally possible.
3. If time is available, coach and pupils will practice forehand and backhand groundstrokes as in No. 2 above.
- Excellent games for rotation are "5 Club," "10 Club," "20 Club," "30 Club" and "World Record."
- A parent-coach can keep waiting children occupied at a safe distance and rotate them in to play.
- Spots can help children understand their positions on the court.
6. Review/homework (2 min.)
Practice suggestions:
Parents should participate in practices with their children, and everyone should warm up before playing:
- Bump-up tennis with and without a bounce
- Wall tennis -- groundstrokes
- No-net tennis -- volleys from a stationary position and groundstrokes
