With short attention spans and an urge to quickly switch to another activity when the current game gets tired, it can be a little harder to help a child learn the game of tennis. Not being able to hit the ball can also be detrimental for a child. With some games and, of course, tennis drills for kids, you can help them get the hang of things, and they will improve in no time at all.
First: Warmups
It is a good idea to start with some warm-ups, as these help with getting the blood flowing and improving the hand-eye coordination of your child. There are different types of warm-ups that you can introduce your kid to. Running the lines is a particularly popular way to get them to do some warm-ups, while also introducing them to the various lines that are present on a tennis court.
Get your kid to start at the net post’s far-right position – ask them to place one of their hands on the net. They would then start with backpedaling toward the baseline, then sidestep to their left toward the court’s singles sideline. Jog toward the net and touch it, then backpedal toward the court’s service line.
Work on Hand-Eye Coordination
Once warm-ups are done, it is most ideal to start with hand-eye coordination. A lot of people tend to start with The Frying Pan technique, followed by dribbles. The frying pan is really similar to dribbles. These activities should be repeated frequently in order to help your kid improve their skills.
With the frying pan technique, the tennis racquet should be in your kid’s dominant hand and should be held in a similar way as they would hold a frying pan. The tennis ball should then be placed on top of the racquet’s strings. The racquet is then moved in upward and downward directions to get the ball to start bouncing on the racquet. At first, the kid may only be able to keep it going for 1 or 2 times.
Forehands and Backhands
The two most important shots in tennis: the forehand and backhand. Here’s two of the most effective drills below.
Stand in front of your kid and take a few steps toward one side. Keep a basket of tennis balls ready. Explain to your kid the different grips involved with forehands, as well as backhands. Show them how they should ideally hit the ball with these grip techniques and then start to throw the balls toward them, allowing them to hit the ball with forehands first, and then a couple of backhand techniques.
Volleys
Another set of tennis drills for kids would be volleys. These are really simple to perform and are great for getting your child more involved in the activity while building their skills and confidence at the same time. Volleys involve ensuring the ball is hit back to the other side before it hits the ground; thus, preventing the ball from bouncing before landing a hit.
