Time:
60 minutes
Equipment:
Racquets, foam or low pressure balls, spots and small nets
1. Welcome/roll call (3 min.)
2. Warm-up
Follow the leader (4 min.)
Everybody follows the coaches around the perimeter of the court twice, jogging on the sidelines and lifting knees to the chest or skipping on the baselines.
Slow stretches (3 min.)
Have the students count aloud during the following stretches:
- Neck rolls -- roll your head six times to the left and six times to the right
- Swing both arms -- do six rotations to the left and six rotations to the right
- Roll dominant wrist -- do six rotations to the left and six rotations to the right
- Ready, set, stretch -- in starter’s block position, extend the right leg, then the left leg and hold each for six counts
- Windmill toe touches -- alternate touching the right hand to the left foot and the left hand to the right foot for a total of 12 touches
3. Motor skills
Volley moves (3 min.)
The kids spread out an arm’s length apart and face the net in ready position (with or without a racquet). The head clinician stands in front and points either forward, backward, left or right. The children shuffle three steps in the indicated direction and shadow stroke a volley, bending the back knee close to the ground.
4. Racquet skills
Shot of the day – review groundstrokes and volleys (5 min.)
1. Demonstrate and have the class shadow groundstrokes with tracking footwork. Move from one stroke directly into the other, such as "shuffle, shuffle, turn/step/hit forehand and shuffle, shuffle, turn/step/hit backhand."
2. Demonstrate and have the class shadow volleys. The same footwork patterns used with groundstrokes can be used for the volley, such as "shuffle, shuffle, turn/step/punch."
Big cheese (5-10 min.)
Students line up in volley position from left to right along the net. The student farthest left begins as the "big cheese." The instructor randomly feeds volleys to the players at the net. If a volley is missed, the player goes to the right end of the line and the other players move one spot left, closer to taking over the "big cheese" spot. Give the players a specified time to make it to "big cheese."
Team toss, hit and catch (5-10 min.)
Divide the class into teams and have each team line up single file behind the baseline. A parent-coach for each team should stand between no-man’s land and the service line. There is one racquet and one ball for each team. To start, the coach tosses a ball to the first student on her team, who attempts to hit a volley so the coach can catch it in the air. Then the player gives the racquet to the next person in line and the game continues. Count the number of catches for each team in a specified period of time, or award points for each catch -- 1 point for a ball that bounces and 2 points for one caught on the fly.
Advanced -- A more challenging alternative is to have team members take turns catching by rotating from the hitting position to the catching position to the end of the line.
5.Playing skills
King/queen of the court (10 min.)
Place up to six small nets on a full-size court. Place one child on each side of the net to play singles points. One parent-coach supervises each court. Play can begin with players drop-hitting and the two can play 1 point or for 2 out of 3 points, depending on how many children are waiting. Points should be played cooperatively and as consistently as possible. The winner stays on the court and his opponent is replaced by another pupil who was waiting at a safe distance.
King/queen of the mountain (15 min.)
Have enough courts set up to accommodate all of the children with playing skills, designating one of the courts the highest (mountain top) and one the lowest (base). One parent-coach supervises each court. Children should be set up for singles, playing for 2 of 3 points or 3 of 5 points. When each court has finished one game, the winners move up one court and their opponents move down one court. Players can drop-hit to start.
6. Review/homework
Practice suggestions (3 min.)
Bump-ups with a bounce with or without a partner
Wall tennis -- stress getting the ball back with control, consistency and some footwork
No-net tennis -- practice volleys and groundstrokes with tracking footwork
