Are you going to coach those juniors in how to play tennis? Tennis is an excellent game providing many educational benefits as well as social and physical aspects to children. Fitness is improved, social skills are improved and they are learning a new ability all in the one process. You do however have to make sure that the coaching you offer is fun and entertaining to the children as well as teaching them the fundamentals of the game. You want them to enjoy the game and continue to play so some motivation will be required and there are a few things you can try out to keep those tennis players interested in the sport.
It is important to be upbeat and positive with the children, all the way through the learning process. You can not expect them to learn everything from day one and of course some will be naturals whereas there are others who will have to work much harder to play the game. You can accomplish the learning process through the use of games as well as just formal instruction so try to be creative and give the children a fun time while they are getting started. You want them coming back after all.
Depending on the age of your pupils you may want to start out using some specialized equipment for their training. Perhaps lower the nets so it is initially much easier for them to see their success when they are hitting the ball. Obtain some lighter tennis racquets that they can hold easily and perhaps softer tennis balls so that if there are cases where they are hit there is less likely chance for damage. When they get older, or further on in the training session you can introduce them to the standard sized equipment and play or practice with correct net heights.
Another important part of the training process, with adults and children, is that you demonstrate what it is you are teaching them. Many people learn in different ways so a verbal instruction may not be enough and a visual instruction or demonstration will only reinforce the task you want them to complete. With children it is common that they will learn more from watching a skill initially and then having the opportunity to copy it.
Try using some special target system for the children to focus on when you are going through the process of teaching them how to use the racquet to place their shots. Often with children they will swing hard but with no direction so use props to get them focusing on where they will be placing the ball. You will find that starting out slowly with this portion of your training is the better option as they will focus more on where they are placing rather than how far out of the court they can hit the ball! You want them to learn the control that they have with ball and racquet and it is very often found that the use of targets in reducing the power behind shots is very effective.
Throughout the time you are teaching them make sure you are using the correct terminology of all aspects of the game of tennis. Use the correct wording for all areas on the tennis court when you are out practicing. When you are requesting them to do something for you use the words relating to the tennis court to get them to move to the areas you want or where you want them to place the ball. This kind of continued verbal use of the same terminology helps to allow the information sink in to the children much more quickly. This also is the case for adults.
Be positive and encouraging and make the learning process fun. The game of tennis for children can be a great sport in their future and something they can do for recreation throughout the years so giving this insight into the game of tennis from an early age can be a great benefit to them.
Author Resource:-
Michiel Van Kets provides article services for Abso-bloody-Lutely, a general directory. The articles are about sports and tennis. You can submit your web site to this directory.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.talkinmince.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
