Question

Hi Judy,

I have a son who is nearly 6 years-old and is very keen on playing tennis. I've looked at the LTA guidelines on how much coaching etc he should be getting at his age. He is currently meeting those guidelines (2-3 group lessons per week with an occasional private lesson) and is progressing nicely.

The guidelines also recommend that he should be doing 'tennis specific fitness' but I'm not sure what that involves – do you have any suggestions on what he should be doing?

Judy says

At 6, general fitness is absolutely fine. The more sports he can do the better as these will develop the coordination skills that are so necessary for the development of young players.

If you wanted to set a little mini circuit in the garden/back yard, you could try the following:

• Skipping – coordination of the arms and legs – good for agility
• Cone work – place two cones about a metre apart and design a little series of movement patterns around the cones such as a figure of eight sideways or forwards/backwards, always looking straight ahead – good for simple footwork patterns
• Hoop – jump in and out of the hoop, going round the entire hoop clockwise, both feet in, both feet out, always looking straight ahead – good for balance and building leg strength
• Football throws – under arm and over arm to partner (mum) or against a wall, making tennis stroke shapes – helps with overhead actions
• Or make up your own – these are all very simple and can be done with equipment you probably have in the house

An example of a little circuit could look like this:

• Skipping – 20 skips, rest, 20 skips, rest, 20 skips, rest
• Cone work – 20 seconds figure of 8 sideways or forwards/backward, rest x 3
• Hoop – go round the hoop twice
• Football throws - 5 x forehand, 5 x backhand, 5 x over arm

They just needs to be simple and changed regularly so that he doesn’t get bored, but any sports are great at this age!