Topspin Monkeys

NEED A NEW IDEA FOR YOUR NEXT TENNIS SESSION? 👀

You’ve come to the right place!

TOPSPIN SHOUT-OUTS is all about sharing great tennis accounts that can give coaches and parents ideas to try with young children.

Every so often we need a fun game, a movement idea, a different way to use equipment or simply an activity to try at home 🏠

This week I’m giving a shout-out to:

🎾 Mini Players
🎾 Srndpty Tennis and padel
🎾 Greg Hill
🎾 Little Tenis - Escuela
🎾 HVS-Tennis ry
🎾 Tennisschule Burndorfer

If you’re involved in tots or mini tennis go and have a look 👀

You never know when one simple idea might completely change the way you approach your next session 😉

The foundations come before the forehand!

At 2–4 years old, I don’t believe we should be rushing children into traditional tennis technique; we should be building the foundations first.

Running, jumping, balancing, throwing, catching and agility as well as exploring rackets and balls are key, but most importantly having fun whilst developing a child’s confidence.

Other sports have understood the importance of developing these skills from an early so tennis needs to join in. This is why I believe blue should be the new red.

Why should we wait until children reach red ball before giving them a proper pathway into tennis?

Let’s start earlier, make it playful and exciting and develop the child before the forehand. At this age we are not trying to create technically perfect 3-year-olds, but children who love moving, love tennis and most importantly love learning.

Here’s to growing the game from blue!

Coaching tots tennis for the first time? Here’s what I’ve learned….

When coaching tots tennis, it’s easy to think your job is to teach forehands, backhands and serves. I am sorry to say that it isn’t.

Your first job is to create a learning environment where children feel safe, confident, engaged and excited to come back week after week. For tots, the goal isn’t perfect the perfect technique, it’s about building a love of movement and the game.

Here are a few things that can make a huge difference.

1) Connect before you correct. Youngsters respond to relationships more than instructions. Learn their names, get down to their eye level, show genuine interest and make them feel valued.

2) Keep it fun and imaginative. A forehand drill becomes much more exciting when they’re feeding a hungry dinosaur or hitting balls onto a pirate island. Children learn through play.

3) Keep instructions short. “Give the ball a high 5.” “Show me your elephant trunk.” “Freeze like a snowman.” Remember less talking and more doing.

4) Keep the pace up! Many activities only need to last 2 to 5 minutes before a change is needed as children’s concentration spans are short. Move on while they are still enjoying it.

5) Use loads of colour. “Find the red cone.” “Stand on a blue spot.” “Aim for the yellow target.”
Colour helps children understand instructions quickly while adding excitement and imagination to the session.

6) Concentrate on movement first. Running, jumping, balancing, throwing and catching are all part of the foundations for developing future tennis players. The best tots sessions often look more like movement adventure playgrounds than tennis lessons.

Finally and most importantly, at the end of the lesson, don’t ask yourself if they hit the perfect forehand but did they leave the class smiling and wanting more. If they leave with better confidence, feeling happy and keen to come back, you’ve done your job.

Now go have a lie down, as its exhausting work!