Many coaches are now teaching young children through the games based approach to tennis.
This allows children of a young age to quickly start competing. It teaches the fundamentals of the game through emphasis on learning how to rally, court positioning, where to place the ball and how to score.
This is linked to playing on the correct size court using smaller rackets with appropriate balls, which allow the players to play and have fun very early on. This is known as mini tennis, and more information can be found in the Juniors Section.
When your child first starts out the clubs should provide some internal competitions, which could be organised by the coach during lessons, or in the form of mini competitions at the club.
These competitions are designed to get children feeling good about competition, learning to score, experience winning and losing and also develop self confidence to take further steps.
As players progress there are other opportunities available through inter club competitions and events organised by the local county association.
To take part in these players will need a mini tennis rating which is available through being a British Tennis Member.
Further information on mini tennis ratings
Coaching and Training
In order to improve it is important to be in the right coaching and training environment.
An ideal coach is one who can:
- inspire the children
- introduce players to competition
- create a fun and challenging environment
- teach the basics of the game
The coach should be hold a current LTA coaching Licence, and be fully up to date with the methods of teaching young kids.
As well as providing the players with the fundamentals they will, as the children improve, take an active interest in their development through keeping a good communication link with the parents, helping in the planning of tournament schedules and training goals and go to competitions to watch some matches.
This will serve as a confidence boost for the player and allow the coach to assess how they are improving and developing.
Training facilities
Ideally your club or centre will:
- be nearby (at the start within 20 minutes travelling time)
- provide a program throughout the whole year
- preferably have floodlights and some indoor provision
- have children of a similar level and age to yours and able to provide a program which will allow players to improve
How much should my child play?
The Guidelines for Training and Playing offers some guidelines which serve as good indicators, although you’ll need to find what is right for your child – and that of course will vary. Considering some of the factors below should help you.
- The age of the child
- The standard of the child
- The mental approach of the child
- The commitment of the child
- The ambition of the child
- How much time, realistically, the child has to practise
- Commitments to family, school and other sports
Talent Identification
Once players have started competing and are considered to have some potential they may be noticed through one of the different talent ID routes that are available. For more information see the Get Noticed section.