Teach Your Child How to Play Tennis

Tennis is a game that requires a lot of mental and physical endurance. It has been played for over a century and is an excellent way for children to have fun while getting physically fit. Nearly 20% of children 6-8 are overweight, which astonishingly has increased nearly 200% over the past three decades. Many experts believe this is due in part to children not being regularly active in sports or other physically enduring games.

Tennis is just one sport that can get children physically fit (as it works out the arms, legs and cardiovascular), but tennis is also a sport that has psychological benefits to go with it. Studies have indicated that those taking part in sports activities, such as tennis, on a regular basis showed an increase in academic performance and memory. Scientists at the University of Illinois reported that tennis might actually generate new connections between the nerves in the brain, due to the sport’s requirement of alertness and tactical thinking.

Preschool
Many Tennis instructors indicate due to the difficulty to teach children and the concepts associated with it you should not begin teaching your children the sport until they are at least four years old. However, there is nothing wrong with taking your preschooler out and just hitting the ball around with a few racquets. This can be a fun introduction for your child anyway. Fundamental tennis should really begin to be taught to your children in late elementary school, but they will learn a lot from going out and having some fun with the balls and racquet.

Make sure you have a small enough racquet for your young child to hold, most racquets are heavy, make sure they can hold the racquet upright to hit the ball. Yet, make sure the racquet is not too small for your child, as this will cause your child to overuse their wrists and elbows to swing. The normal racquet length for children up to four years old is 19 E It is suggested that you purchase a badminton set (that comes with posts and the net). You can set this game up in your backyard. The racquets are much lighter and you can make the net as low as you would like it to resemble a tennis net. Just have fun hitting it back and forth with your child.

Main points to address:

• Allow your child to have fun with the ball.
• Make sure the racquet fits your child.
• Purchase a badminton set for your child and set it up in your backyard.

Grades K-3rd
At the early Elementary school group you can begin to teach your children the fundamentals of tennis. How to hold the tennis racquet for comfort and flexibility will affect how well your child picks up the lessons you teach them. Be sure to show them the correct way to grip the racquet. The racquet suggested for this age group is a racquet at the length of 21 E Your child should use a shortened grip on the racquet, but comfort is of major importance. Have your child place the racquet in front of them, with the handle pointing toward the sky; have them grab a hold of the racquet handle, with their thumb wrapped around to the left and their front fingers to the right.

Groundstrokes will be the first fundamental stroke you teach your child. The groundstroke starts with a short backswing. Show them a short feed to start out, making sure they get the ball over the net. Allow them to do this repeatedly until they begin to feel comfortable and confident with the groundstroke.

The overhead swing can then be introduced to your child once they have the groundstroke down. Have them stand close to the net, and move backwards as needed, serve the ball, make sure it is a soft-feed and you are aiming right for their racquet. This will give them just enough practice with the overhead swing. Work on this stroke continuously until they feel comfortable with the stroke. You should continue working these strokes over a couple weeks to a month’s time.

Main points to address:

• Begin teaching fundamental tennis.
• Teach them the groundstroke until they are comfortable with the stroke.
• Move onto the overhead swing.

Grades 4th-6th
Once your children have the basic strokes down you can now move to the full rules and regulations of playing tennis (as this is complicated it is best left for older children) you can go over all the tennis rules with your child here: http://www.e-tennis.org.

When children begin to understand the basic concepts of tennis you can introduce some serving, swinging and standing techniques that will help them improve their game You can visit http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/steps.html for a step-by-step guide to playing tennis, how the feet work, how your body should be positioned, with information on all the strokes, serves, and volley. This site has all the information you and your child will need.

Main points to address:

• Go through tennis rules and regulations.
• Introduce the scoring procedures for playing.
• You can now introduce strategies and techniques to your child.

Resources
Resources that can help you in your venture include:

• United States Tennis Association – http://www.usta.com
• Sporty Kids – http://sportykid.sites.subhub.com
• Professional Tennis Instruction – http://www.professionaltennisinstruction.com
• Virtual Tennis Academy – http://www.virtualtennisacademy.com
• Tennis Camps – http://www.golfcamp.com

Posted in Leisure.

Related articles

• Teach Your Child How to Take Good Pictures

• Teach Your Child How to Paint

• Teach Your Child to Play Hide and Seek