Time:
60 minutes
Equipment:
Racquets, foam or low pressure balls, spots, cones, teaching cables 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 the sidelines and shuffling along the baseline.
Slow stretches (3 min.)
Have the students count aloud as they do 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
- Toe touches -- touch both hands to the toes and hold
3. Motor skills
Weaving relay (5-10 min.)
Divide parents and children into relay teams. Place four cones equidistant in a row from the baseline to the net. Use one racquet and ball for each team. Each group sends the first player weaving between the cones from the baseline to the net and back. Have them walk or jog while performing a racquet-and-ball skill such as bump-ups or balancing the ball on the strings. Stress control over speed. When players finish their turns, they pass the ball and racquet to the next player in line and the relay continues.
Bump-up tennis (10 min.)
Use a low pressure or foam ball the children can control to do the following skills. To add difficulty, do any of these drills in a limited space, taking only one step or while standing on one foot:
1. Bump-ups with a bounce drop the ball and bump it up after the bounce, then let it bounce again and bump it up
2. Bump-ups bump the ball and keep it from hitting the ground
3. Downs use the racquet to dribble the ball
4. Racquet skills
Shot of the day -- forehand drive (5 min.)
Demonstrate and have the class shadow the forehand drive using a basic shake hands grip and ready position in a sideways stance with a centered racquet. Include the backswing, forward swing, contact point in front of the body and follow-through.
Forehand progression on dangling balls (10 min.)
Hang up to five dangling balls on each teaching cable (see diagram, Page 156). Place spots to correctly position kids sideways to the ball. 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 it as the child prepares to hit again
3.Gently hit consecutive balls, using a controlled and compact swing
Good drills for this are "10 Club," "20 Club," "30 Club" and "World Record."
5. Playing skills
No-net tennis (15 min.)
This is a great game to teach children to rally cooperatively without the barrier of a net. One-on-one, parent-coaches should stand several feet from the children and gently hit groundstrokes to the children’s forehands, trying to keep a rally going. This may resemble the bump-ups with a bounce practiced earlier.
- Have parent-coaches stand with their backs to the fence to keep balls from spraying.
- Have an instructor and student demonstrate before the class begins playing.
- Allow the children to play freely, however, remind them of the shot basics.
While playing No-net tennis, rotate a few players to small nets to play with an assistant coach or parent-coach.
Small-net tennis
An assistant coach stands across the small net from two players who share the court as a doubles team. The coach should alternate balls to the players’ forehands, reminding them to keep their feet moving between balls. After a specified number of balls played or minutes, the doubles team can be replaced with a waiting team.
- Good games for rotation are "5 and You’re Out," "10 Club," "20 Club" and "World Record."
- Spots can help children understand their positions on the court.
- A parent-coach can help keep waiting children occupied at a safe distance.
6. Review/homework (3 min.)
Practice suggestions:
Parents should participate with children on homework assignments, and everyone should warm up with standard exercises.
Bump-up tennis --give the child a goal for keeping the ball in the air
Bounce-downs --again, give the child a goal for consecutive hits
Wall tennis --stress getting the ball back with control, consistency and some footwork to forehand stance
No-net tennis --practice forehands with medium high bumps and consistency
