Activities for children should follow a series of steps to prepare, engage and develop them both mentally and physically.
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Children (3-8) can participate in a range of activities and games. These can be performed individually or as a group and can be adapted as games to make them easier or harder according to ability. |
Click on each of the heading below to see some useful and practical ideas for each stage.
Warm-Up
A warm-up has a number of benefits. Firstly, it ensures the body is fully prepared physically which helps to minimise the chances of an injury occurring. It also focuses attention and prepares them mentally for the task ahead.
Speed, Agility & Coordination
Speed, agility and coordination are essential for tennis. With regards to speed, players have a limited amount of time to get to the ball before it’s too late to play. So they must be quick around the court. Opponents can play shots side-to-side, back-behind, short or over players heads. Therefore, the ability to change direction and be agile is key. Finally, players need to coordinate lots of various movements for efficiency.
Receptive Skills
Players need to understand the ball characteristics – height, depth, direction, speed and spin in order to move into the correct position to play the shot.
RacQUET SKILLS
Racquet skills improves a player’s hand-eye coordination to develop timing for contact. They help the player get used to using the chopper grip which is the way to hold the racquet for the serve, volley, sliced backhand and smash. It also improves a player’s ball control.