Start to play tennis ?

[esrb]

My daughter is becoming 4 years old: when is the proper time to introduce her to tennis? Some people say that I should wait, some others say that is time to start: any opinions? :confused:

[Tikiman53]

It really depends on what kind of person your child is. When I was a little kid -- I think 5(?) -- my parents made me take tennis lessons. Of course, the teacher didn't teach. He just made me bounce balls up and down and stuff, and I got a horrible first impresson of the game. I stopped after a few lessons, and I took the sport up seriously last year.

But I think if you can teach her right and keep her interested, I think 4 or 5 is alright.

[Bagumbawalla]

It depends, but very few children are ready at 4.

Take her to the court when you play. If she shows interest, seems co-ordinated and unafraid of the ball, look into it further.

[str33t]

my little brother is 8 and loves tennis. he hits his forehands and backhands pretty well and with good form for a little kid.

[Snoopchicken]

My father taught me some fundamentals about tennis when I was around 7, and then I stopped playing tennis for a while and I just got back into tennis recently and I still remember what he taught me.

[Swissv2]

if the child is interested, you might be able to have her start early. If she is not interested, then you can wait. Usually, interest perks when you seem to have fun doing it, and she seems to want to do it herself.

Keep it fun and relaxed for now.

[Tennismastery]

If you simply spend a few minutes a day, and not even many days a week, having your child swing with a good swing path and footwork, NOT hitting a ball, they will have a very good swing when they are five or six...only then needing to work on the timing.

Four is too young for most kids to try to hit a ball. I used the PracticeHit with my daughter when she was four, developed her two-handed forehand and backhand with a low to high swing. Didn't spend more than a total of an hour over the course of a year...only spend a few minutes with her and never let her get tired of trying it. Would stop her after only about ten or twelve swings.

Now, at 7, she hits a great topspin with perfect form, and I never had to teach her much regarding the swing. Adding footwork and movement is easy since the swing is so well defined. And adding the loop was very natural. She can hit a short backswing with little loop when rushed, or elongate her loop when she has time.

Hope this helps.

[dewey2110]

My daughter is becoming 4 years old: when is the proper time to introduce her to tennis? Some people say that I should wait, some others say that is time to start: any opinions? :confused:
get her to know it, teach her how to swing and do the footworks so that when she's a little older (beginning to play with a racquet) the swing path and footworks are already in their forms. But try to make it a fun activity so she wont have a bad impression of the game and quit it.
"get them young enough and the possibilities are endless"

[thejerk]

One of my daughters can hit pretty good. She just turned 7 and she was hitting at 4. My other daughter is a year younger than her and still can't hit. Don't force them they will get bored.

My son isn't yet 2 and he already hits balls against the wall in our house. I've seen him hit 5 in a row by himself when he didn't know anybody was watching. He has a one handed forehand and he was even hitting with a one handed backhand. I just recently bought him an old racketball racket but he can use my 12 and 13 ouncers. I'm thinking, hmmmm. Will he or one of his sisters be my retirement plan. Two of them have no probs hitting off both sides and he isn't even 2.

[ucd_ace]

I think that around that age you just want to make it fun for her. Just toss her the ball and let her swing as hard as she can or whatever and be really encouraging. You probably don't want to bother teaching her fundamentals explicitly until around age 7 or 8.

[varuscelli]

To make it as easy as you can for a young child to hit a ball, you might want to use a technique sort of like used in T-ball.

I think working with a more or less "stationary" ball is one way to go so that very young kids don't have to try and force their minds and bodies to take on a dozen different things at once (which is at least the case when a child or adult is try to hold a racquet and swing at a moving ball -- it's very easy for an adult to underestimate the complexity of hitting a tennis ball when it comes to a kid's mind/body frame of reference).

Try attaching a lightweight ball (either a non-tennis ball or one of those very lightweight, made-for-kids tennis balls) to a string and hang it from something like a tree limb. Let her get used to swinging the racquet (the smallest workable child's racquet you can find) at that ball for as a game. I wouldn't use a full-weight tennis ball, because it's likely to come back and hit her and might scare her away from this kind of play. But something very lightweight won't be nearly as prone to smacking her back after she smacks it.

Doing that, she can slowly work her way from hitting the ball while it's more or less motionless to hitting the ball while it's moving.

And just to reiterate, I think it's best for kids that young to NOT have to try and hit full-weight tennis balls. You can buy little two- and three-packs of lighter, child-oriented tennis balls that are a lot easier for small children to handle. And there are several types of kid's tennis balls, large and small and of varying weights and other characteristics.

Also, from things I've read, getting her involve in other sports that are perhaps a bit less complex can help her develop skills like footwork that will make tennis easier. Soccer is one that's often mentioned as a great practice sport for young kids that's not overly complex, but quickly helps them to develop footwork and focus on a ball that's relatively easy to follow (compared to a tennis ball).

Just a couple of ideas, anyway. ;)

[varuscelli]

Forgot to mention the "ball tied to a stick" method. Attach a ball to a string and tie the string to a stick or pole that you hold while the child swings at the ball. (Kind of like holding a fishing pole up with something dangling from the end.)

Just make sure that on these "string" methods you use a really heavy duty string or twine.

[esrb]

I want to thank all the people who replied this post.

Our kids are the most important thing so we try to do the best for them.

All advices were great and YES, I'm starting with basic positions and movements in the backyard with no ball, just her little stick her godfather gave to her. I do appreciate the interest regarding this post.

Enrique. :D

[varuscelli]

I want to thank all the people who replied this post.


Yeah, I have a 4-year-old (almost 5 now) and have been looking at the same issues you are. She's interested (or seemingly so) and I'd sure like to encourage her in any way I can. I'd like to approach it in such a way that it keeps her interest so she can get a bit of a head start on things, but I don't want to approach it too clumsily and through my own weak efforts cause her to lose interest.

My dad did the same thing with me when I was very young, but with basketball. It was funny, too, because as I progressed farther into grade school, it occurred to me (once we actually started playing basketball in school) that I could handle a ball better than just about anyone in the gym classes. At the time, I didn't realize that all the kids didn't already know that stuff. ;)

[varuscelli]

Didn't spend more than a total of an hour over the course of a year...only spend a few minutes with her and never let her get tired of trying it. Would stop her after only about ten or twelve swings.


Good point on time. Five minutes for a child that age likely equates to an hour in adult time. Gotta keep that in mind with my girl and not let my enthusiasm about her interest overwhelm her own play-time comfort zone. If she wants to go longer that's great, but I agree with that "little at a time" approach.

[varuscelli]

Four is too young for most kids to try to hit a ball. I used the PracticeHit with my daughter when she was four, developed her two-handed forehand and backhand with a low to high swing. Didn't spend more than a total of an hour over the course of a year...only spend a few minutes with her and never let her get tired of trying it. Would stop her after only about ten or twelve swings.

In case you see this, Tennismastery, do you have any opinion or feeling about the "dual recoil balls" as an accessory for the PracticeHit system?

I called the PracticeHit folks to get some info before I ordered the kids setup for my daughter, and the person I spoke to recommended the dual recoil balls as an accessory. They were just leaving the office at the time, and when I looked that item up, there's just not a lot of info about it (seemingly) on their website. Too late for me to call them back now, so I'll have to wait until later to ask them about it. But, I just wondered if you had any off-the-top-of-your-head feedback on that accessory.

That is, if you see this extra note in the first place... ;)

[Tennismastery]

Varuscelli,

I have used the re coil ball and it is a little like those balls on the elastic string and paddle...you have to get a rhythm with them and it can be helpful. They are great for players who have good strokes already as they can be also a lot like a hitting wall: if you are using faulty strokes to hit the ball over and over (like using the wrist or changing the stroke to get the ball back) it can be harmful. We have used them in groups with advanced players, setting up four of them on the base of the practice hit...but you have to spread out the players so the balls cross. It allows them to hit while we are working with another group of players.

Overall, it isn't a bad tool. I just really like the practice hit for reasons I mentioned in other posts and the fact I can train 8 or 10 players with that many units and focus on the technique rather than the outcome of a ball being hit.

Hope this is helpful.

[varuscelli]

I have used the re coil ball <snip>

Actually, they were making a distinction between the "recoil ball" and the "dual recoil balls" as seen here:

http://www.practicehit.com/dual_recoil_balls_accessory.htm

Is what you're describing the "recoil ball" or "dual recoil balls"?

From the info on the site, I'm having a bit of difficulty in figuring out what these "dual recoil balls" actually do or how they are used... :confused:

In any case, they guy on the phone seem enthusiastic about them as an accessory.

Still got me a bit confused, though.

(I actually used something like the recoil ball in a game that was sold years ago, back in something like 1978 or so. Just a ball on an elastic string with a heavy base, but it was sort of fun at the time just playing around with it. It was set up as some kind of one-on-one competitive game played with paddle racquets, if I recall correctly.)

[Tennismastery]

Actually, they were making a distinction between the "recoil ball" and the "dual recoil balls" as seen here:

http://www.practicehit.com/dual_recoil_balls_accessory.htm

Is what you're describing the "recoil ball" or "dual recoil balls"?

From the info on the site, I'm having a bit of difficulty in figuring out what these "dual recoil balls" actually do or how they are used... :confused:

In any case, they guy on the phone seem enthusiastic about them as an accessory.

Still got me a bit confused, though.

(I actually used something like the recoil ball in a game that was sold years ago, back in something like 1978 or so. Just a ball on an elastic string with a heavy base, but it was sort of fun at the time just playing around with it. It was set up as some kind of one-on-one competitive game played with paddle racquets, if I recall correctly.)

The 'dual' balls is just two different types of balls that you could use with the recoil elastic (rubber) band. One ball is a standard type of tennis ball, the other uses a low pressure ball like the Penn Stars or the Wilson ball just like it.

It is very similar to what you described. You can elongate the band for longer return time on the shot. But, it is really good for footwork as you either have to have great strokes to control the ball to the same rebound positions or your going to need to move more.

That help?

[dozu]

the key is to keep her interested. why my daughter was 2, I take her to the court and she'd use an adult racket and hit balls I roll to her off the ground. let her play hide & seek behind the net etc. at this age no need to teach fh bh etc, just train them on general mobility, balance and hand/eye coord.

daughter now is 5 and still not really into tennis as our focus is golf. right now her posture/swing mechanic/grip etc all need a lot of work, but she can somehow manage to hit the golf ball pretty clean for the most part... all the coaches are impressed by her ball-striking and I believe it has a lot to do with the balance and hand/eye coord she got from hitting those rolling balls on the tennis court.... so now to her, a static golf ball might seem a piece of cake to her....

[varuscelli]

The 'dual' balls is just two different types of balls that you could use with the recoil elastic (rubber) band. One ball is a standard type of tennis ball, the other uses a low pressure ball like the Penn Stars or the Wilson ball just like it.


That's it! And yes, that helps. Now the explanation comes clearer to me in that the lower pressure ball won't have the ... "intimidation" factor that the standard ball might have for a smaller child with its weight. (For instance, being easier to hit and not so hard if it hits the child, etc. At least, I think that's what the PracticeHit rep was getting at.)

Thanks for that bit of clarification, and I appreciate the courteous help. ;)