LTA Youth Coaching
Tennis coaching for kids
Transform your coaching programme with LTA Youth – a fresh, fun approach to coaching tennis, for kids aged 4 – 18, no matter their gender, ability or background.
We’ve created LTA Youth with a whole new approach to coaching. The programme gives you everything you need to help more kids enjoy the benefits of tennis, including world-class content based on the latest science and research.
We understand that the key to growing any coaching business is giving kids the best experience possible while offering their parents value for money. LTA Youth guarantees that every session is full of energy and packed with exciting games that support kids in developing new skills for life – keeping them and their parents coming back for more!
The programme is made up of LTA Youth Start, an introductory course, plus five stages (outlined below) that give young players the chance to practice at an appropriate level and offers you the flexibility to run multiple sessions a week.
Best of all, you get access our extensive video library of LTA Youth drills and exercises, as well as hundreds of lesson plans in the Coach Hub.
Already on board? Find out how to upload your latest LTA Youth courses here.
A fun starter course for kids aged 4 – 11, who are new to tennis or have played very little. There are 6 group coaching lessons full of fun games, designed to get kids active, confident and more skilled.
Kids will improve their balance, agility and co-ordination through fun games while learning how to play the sport we love. At this stage it’s not about winning or losing, it’s getting to grips with the basics.
Kids start to practise overarm serves, volleys and learn how to rally, whilst developing their co-ordination, balance, speed and agility. Still with soft balls and small courts they'll be introduced to relaxed competition too.
Kids are converted into more than just one-shot wonders. Time to throw in some tactics, problem-solving and guides to sportsmanship and leadership. They'll know all of the rules and will be serving and returning.
It’s time for kids to play on full size courts. Now it’s all about growing their game by fine tuning and refining the techniques they’ve learned so far. Kids should now be in a position to act more independently on court.
It’s all about playing on a full size court with the same size balls the pros use. Kids will continue to explore different styles on court and start to choose their own. By this point we hope kids will be tennis players, and fans of the game for life!
LTA Youth Go! is a community-based programme which enables Activators to facilitate fun, action-packed, introductory tennis sessions for kids. Activators are trained to facilitate play and have a vital role in running introductory sessions to the next generation outside of traditional tennis clubs and venues.
There are many qualities to LTA Youth including a ‘player centred approach’ and ‘skill based development’. All content is underpinned by a comprehensive competency framework and guiding principles. By using a game based play with appropriate challenges and regular competition, LTA Youth will help retain more players as they progress through the stages.
You will find further information on training, course upload and safeguarding in the various sections below.
Tennis for kids has been brought into line with the LTA Youth principles and competencies and aligned under one brand with a new name; LTA Youth START.
With a fresh look and exciting new content, we want to continue to grow LTA Youth Start and significantly increase the number of kids trying tennis and falling in love with our sport.
What’s the LTA Youth Start offer?
Children will receive:
- 6 group coaching sessions delivered by a trained LTA Accredited coach
- A participant kit including racket, ball, wristbands and branded t-shirt
- Rewards for progress & achievements
- Take home activities
- A follow on promotional offer (from you, the coach)
Coaches can become recognised as a LTA Youth coach once they complete the online training course.
Level 2 Accredited and Accredited+ coaches who completed training can upload LTA Youth sessions to ClubSpark and deliver the LTA Youth content within their programmes.
Accredited/Accredited+ Level 2 (or higher) coaches who have completed the LTA Youth: Coach Foundation Training course can deliver LTA Youth sessions. Completing the course, and being Accredited, allows you to upload LTA Youth sessions to your ClubSpark website, so you can market your programme as one that delivers the best quality coaching for kids.
The table below provides an overview of the training available linked to LTA Youth and what it trains you to deliver (which is coupled with ClubSpark upload access):
| Course Name | Method |
Trained to deliver LTA Youth Start |
Trained to deliver LTA Youth? |
|
LTA Youth: Start* |
Online Course | Yes | No |
|
LTA Youth: Coach Foundation Training |
Online Course | No | Yes |
|
LTA Youth: Orange to Green |
Workshop | No | Yes |
|
LTA Youth: Compete |
Online Course | No (specialism unit) | No (specialism unit) |
|
LTA Instructor |
Qualification | Yes | Yes |
*If you completed Tennis For Kids face-to-face training in 2018 or completed the Tennis for Kids online training, you can upload and deliver LTA Youth Start courses providing all other criteria is met:
- The course must be held at a venue that falls into one of the below categories:
- A Venue registered with the LTA and thus meets the five minimum safeguarding standards
- An Educational Venue - this includes Schools, Colleges & Universities
- A Park or Community Venue.
Coaches delivering LTA Youth Start courses or LTA Youth will receive support to plan and deliver their programmes, including:
- A centralised booking website through ClubSpark to help administer / promote and manage courses (available to all L2 -5 Accredited and Accredited + coaches)*
- Investment in a national marketing campaign
- Videos and session plans for all stages of player development with world class content available in the Coach Secure Area
- A suite of promotional materials to help engage parents and schools
- Access to case studies and a coaches Facebook group for support and to share learning
- LTA Youth Start resource packs including certificates, activity cards and stickers
ClubSpark support guides are available here.
Course finder
Once you have uploaded your LTA Youth Start and LTA Youth sessions to ClubSpark they will appear on the 'book children's tennis lessons' for parents to search and book.
Promotional resources
Create personalised marketing materials to help promote LTA Youth Start and LTA Youth. There’s a variety of promotional items available in My Tennis Toolkit ready for you to tailor and use.
LTA Youth equipment
LTA Youth session videos show a range of equipment, which is available to purchase from the Zsig online store. By no means does all the equipment have to be used, and coaches can be creative and find their own substitutes if they wish. The purpose is to provide players, (particularly younger children) with a wide range of stimulating visual aids which is proven to support and accelerate learning.
LTA Youth Schools is a free, innovative primary and secondary cross-curricular programme, with inspiring character education and personal development content, available to all schools in Great Britain.
As part of LTA Youth Schools, the LTA has invested in a new School Club Link voucher, where teachers attending LTA Youth Teacher Training will receive a £250 voucher to spend on ten hours of coaching with a local LTA Accredited Coach, or equipment (limited to one voucher per school).
This is a significant investment and as well as being used as an incentive to get schools involved, it will also make life easier for coaches to build relationships with new schools and help bridge the gap for more kids to join programmes outside of school.
Competition is a vital part of LTA Youth. Providing a seamless link from coaching programmes to appropriate competitions is essential to retaining children in the sport. Research has shown that players who compete are more likely than others to:
- Play tennis more often
- Play tennis all year round (rather than just through the Summer)
- Continue playing, rather than dropping out of the sport
Coaches and Venues can play a vital role in growing our sport by providing more children with a fun and friendly introduction to competition with a clear progression for players who want to do more. LTA Youth products enable players to start competing in local, fun and recreational competitions before progressing to more formal tournaments at local venues. Find out more about LTA Youth Compete here.
The LTA Youth Compete products are supported by a reward scheme that encourages players at Red, Orange and Green to play competitive tennis matches. Players earn rewards based on the number of matches they play at each ball colour. Find out more about LTA Youth Competition Rewards here.
The LTA Youth Compete online learning course is a great way to discover more about each competition product and a mandatory requirement before you can deliver LTA Youth Matchplay. Click here to enrol and complete the training.
For the full set of FAQs visit the Coach FAQ Page here.
LTA wants tennis in Britain to be at the forefront of safeguarding in sport. As a result, all LTA Youth sessions must be delivered by a trained and LTA Accredited coach at either a registered venue, an educational venue or a community venue that meets the LTA’s minimum safeguarding standards.
The LTA is committed ensuring all people involved in tennis in Britain can enjoy the sport in a safe, welcoming and supportive environment. We strongly believe this should be at the heart of everything we do and will be central to the continued success of programmes like LTA Youth. We understand parents and carers play a vital role in achieving this. So, we have partnered with Sport England to pilot a cutting edge awareness campaign to promote the welfare of all young people. The participant packs will include a ‘Safe to Play’ card where parents have access to true story cases and guidance
Helping to grow tennis
We have heard so many amazing success stories with LTA Youth Start and the programme insight continues to reflect the support for this introductory offer:
- An incredible 95% of parents are satisfied or very satisfied with their experience
- 97% of parents feel it continues to provide value for money
- 60% of children who participate have never played before
- 65% of parents would not have registered their kids if LTA Youth Start hadn’t existed
LTA Youth Start is the best way to introduce new kids to the sport and has helped many coaches grow their programme and their business. With the alignment of junior programmes and competitions through LTA Youth, there has never been a better time to get more kids playing tennis.