WEDNESDAY
9:00 / CHILDREN'S TENNIS LESSONS (Beach 1 Courts)
Boys & Girls, ages 5-8
Coordinator: Terry & Tom Latham
Assistants: Elaine Kuntz, Mary Stoddard , Danielle Marushan
Additional Adult and Teen Volunteers are Needed!!
This league is divided into boys and girls ages 5 and 6, who work in separate groups on the basic skills of eye-hand coordination when hitting the ball, how to hold a racquet, proper form and technique. The 7 and 8 year olds fine-tune their skills and culminate with a few matches at the end of their lesson. All players must bring their own racquets; balls are provided. DUE TO THE TREMENDOUS POPULARITY OF THIS ACTIVITY, ADDITIONAL ASSISTANTS ARE ALWAYS NEEDED AND WELCOME! TBA
Our Kids Tennis lessons started with 38 kids attending, but dwindled down to 17 for the last session. After bump-ups and warm-ups, I’ve been bringing the 7 and 8 year olds to the upper courts, and dividing them into six groups, paired up with six volunteers. We have covered ready position, turning to the proper sideways stance, full backswing, step, hit and follow through. We taught them the forehand, backhand, volley at the net, the serve, and finished up with tracking the ball wide. They even played some doubles matches on the last day. This program has given them a good foundation to progress from. These kids now know how to hit the ball, and with some practice, should be able to rally back and forth a few times. Our younger 5 & 6 year olds have had a lot of fun on the 6 dangling balls we rig up every Wednesday. This gives them a stationary ball that they can learn to hit properly. All of these little kids learned to hit both the forehand and backhand, and even got to try the overhand serve on the last day. Congratulations were given as they received their medals and coloring pages. Special thanks to all of our volunteer coaches & assistants: Elaine Kuntz, Mary Stoddard, Danielle Marushan, Rick Savage, Keith McCotter, Heidi Chadwick, and many more parents, picking up & bouncing balls.
Tennis lessons are finished for the summer, but please continue these practice suggestions: bump-ups, (our youngest kids can try bump-ups with a balloon), bump-downs, flip-flops, bounce & catch with your non-dominant hand (both palm up & palm down), Toss up & catch with your non-dominant hand, serving in bounds, and wall tennis. Parents may bounce both forehands and backhands to their kids, concentrating on ready position, shuffle, turn, step, & hit. Try to get a rally going, and I’ll see you on the courts!
-------------------------------
It was great filling in for Dory for the last week of Tween Tennis (ages 9-12) last Monday, 8/13. When the call went out for HELP, I got a terrific response. I am so grateful to Diane Kelly, Jennifer Ziegler, and Danielle Marushan, for helping me out that day. It came down to 1 coach teaching 2 kids on each of 4 courts. That was some really good personal attention from some top notch tennis players. We covered the Backhand Drive (one handed, handshake grip, ready position, turn, backswing, step, hit, & follow through), and touched on the Backhand Volley at the net, then continued on with sending the ball wide for them to “shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, turn, step, hit.” We ended with playing a doubles team against the coach, introducing alternating serves to each side, unlimited bounces, and replaying some missed shots. Overall, it was a lot of fun and quite rewarding for both our kids, and our volunteers. Kids were given a tennis word search puzzle to take home. I may have to follow Dory’s lead and spread our younger kids into 2 age groups to cover 2 separate hours next year.
-------------------------------
For the first couple of weeks of ages 5 - 8 tennis, we instructed the kids on the following: warm up, Eastern grip, bounce & catch, bump-ups & downs, running the lines of the court, and forehand and backhand strokes.
Our homework assignments have included: forehand & backhand (palm up & palm down) bump-ups, first with a balloon, then with a tennis ball. They should be getting better at it, and working in bump-ups with a bounce, with a partner, and bump-downs (dribbling). Walk around bouncing a tennis ball, catching it palm up, and palm down. Get comfortable using both your left hand, and your right hand. A good drill for learning to hit the ball properly is to use a dangling ball. Get a tennis ball down into the toe of an old pair of stockings, and clip it to your clothesline (about waist height?). You can now grip your racquet and practice, first bumping the ball, than adding a backswing, and finally a full swing with follow through. Contact point should be ahead of your body, towards the net. (You may want to stop the ball between each hit). Control the ball by hitting it gently, and on the sweet spot (center) of the racquet. All of our kids should also be playing wall tennis, practicing both forehand and backhand. Raining? Table tennis is the perfect alternative to tennis! Success will come quicker for those who practice throughout the week. Parents are encouraged to bring their racquet and participate.
In the next few weeks, we will cover tracking with groundstrokes, including the ready position, pivot turn, back swing, step, forward swing, follow through, and return to ready position. Forehand Volley , close to the net, including pivot, step, and punch (high-five). The serve, including the underhand toss, extended arm, and the trap, tray, and “V” positions of trapping the serve against the fence, before finally getting a shot at the real serve. Watch Out!
Practice, practice, practice. Find children’s age appropriate lessons at www.littletennis.com.
