Jun 25

Jun 25 Swinging for Success: Tips for Getting Kids Started in Tennis

Oli Harris

Sport for Kids

Smashing Start: Tips for Introducing Tennis to Children

Tennis is one of the best sports for kids to learn, specifically in relation to improving skills required in other sports.

Tennis promotes the following key skills and attributes;

Footwork
Hand-eye coordination
High level of movement in all directions
Basic tactics

There is a lot to be said for children picking up these skills when they are young as it will only benefit them going forward, and they can take those lessons learned and apply them in other games as they develop.

How do you get your kids into tennis?

I believe that the key is to promote the general idea of running around and hitting a ball.

So when they are about 3-4 years of age or just ready to start playing, buy them a little racket and a soft, sponge ball, and give it to them as their very own racket.

Now, if you, the parents, already play the game this will obviously help as they will want to feel like they are joining in and doing something that you enjoy doing.

If you don’t play, it is not a problem, you can explain to them that you are showing them something new and that maybe you can all learn together.

Step 1: Throwing & Catching

The key to unlocking hand-eye potential and gaining a level of understanding about depth perception is throwing and catching.

So, remember that sponge ball that you bought? Start throwing it to your child and encouraging them to catch it by bringing two hands together and into the chest.

This game can be played anywhere and can be incentivised to help engender a sense of achievement.

Step 2: Introducing the Tennis Racket

You are playing the same game as above, but instead of catching, you are going to show them how to hit the ball with the racket.

Do not worry too much about technique, they will figure out the most logical way to hit the ball with a little guidance.

Make sure they have the racket back before you let go of the ball, this is really important and will also help with timing.

Also, make sure you mix things up as they get better by asking them to swing from both forehand and backhand sides.

Step 3: Junior tennis camps and lessons

Take a look and see if your local tennis club offers introductory tennis lessons for young children.

These are often group activities that are more about running around and just getting a feel for the balls and the racket than they are actual lessons.

Quite often tennis coaches run these through the Summer and combine them with other sports and essentially provide a great babysitting service for a large part of the day!

Make sure to ask your children if they would like to go to a group tennis lesson. Make it fun and not about personal achievement just yet.

Let them find their way and enjoy being with friends at the tennis club.

They will start to absorb their surroundings and watch older children hitting the ball differently and then see posters, pictures, videos etc of professionals and by osmosis, they develop an interest they didn’t know they had.

This thing about watching others play is very important so if they show any interest, perhaps let them watch some videos on YouTube of children having lessons or playing games, it will encourage them to keep going.

Why tennis is a good game for children to take up

As we mentioned, there are a lot of attributes that make a good tennis player, and these are very useful when looking at other games.

Tennis especially requires more types of footwork than other sports e.g. sidestep, backward step, sprinting, lunging, jumping etc.

It is also a game that involves constant movement, especially when learning, footwork and positioning are what allow the base from which to hit the perfect shot.

You just need a racket and a sponge ball to get started, so go for it and introduce your kids to the game of tennis today,