I have this kid...

Clay Mize

Rookie
I have this 8 year old girl. She is a great little athlete...amazing gymnast. I have been giving her a joint lesson with another 8 year old once a week for two years. They can play on a regular size court with adult balls. They are not great, but they are playing tennis. However, the good athlete wants to swat at her forehand. I nag her constantly about shoulder turn, but even when she gets a shoulder turn she squares back up and swats the forehand. This is especially true once the competition starts. I try more drop feeds and that helps a little. Any suggestions?
 

watungga

Professional
She has that fear of the ball might go past her. Thus, her mindset is take the ball from the front as early as possible.
Feed her several balls higher than her head and tell her to wait for the ball to drop before hitting it higher than you and over the net.
She'll learn the art of waiting.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
She has that fear of the ball might go past her. Thus, her mindset is take the ball from the front as early as possible.
Feed her several balls higher than her head and tell her to wait for the ball to drop before hitting it higher than you and over the net.
She'll learn the art of waiting.
I will try that Monday and let you know. Thanks
 

Racer41c

Professional
I have this 8 year old girl. She is a great little athlete...amazing gymnast. I have been giving her a joint lesson with another 8 year old once a week for two years. They can play on a regular size court with adult balls. They are not great, but they are playing tennis. However, the good athlete wants to swat at her forehand. I nag her constantly about shoulder turn, but even when she gets a shoulder turn she squares back up and swats the forehand. This is especially true once the competition starts. I try more drop feeds and that helps a little. Any suggestions?

Switch her to racquetball.
 

spun_out

Semi-Pro
I have this 8 year old girl. She is a great little athlete...amazing gymnast. I have been giving her a joint lesson with another 8 year old once a week for two years. They can play on a regular size court with adult balls. They are not great, but they are playing tennis. However, the good athlete wants to swat at her forehand. I nag her constantly about shoulder turn, but even when she gets a shoulder turn she squares back up and swats the forehand. This is especially true once the competition starts. I try more drop feeds and that helps a little. Any suggestions?
Does she know how to throw a ball correctly? Throwing is a specific skill that needs to be taught whether the child is a great athlete or not, and it has major carryover to everything related to tennis. If she knows how to throw, then you can tell her to think of the forehand not as a hit (or swat in her case) but a sidearm throw.
 

dennis

Semi-Pro
+1 for making the player wait if this is the issue. If players aren't experienced at judging the ball flight they can hit it too early eg when the ball is on the rise which results in swatting as they're rushed. You could work on it by playing games where you have to let the ball bounce twice or three times, this could be catching it after two bounces or tapping it up with a racket after two bounces or trying to sandwich the ball into the floor just as it's hitting the floor etc.

Other ideas to encourage a shoulder turn:

Play a game where only deep shots are in, eg the service boxes are out.
Play with a really high net and make the target deep.
Throw a medicine ball back and forth with two hands.
Have her use two racquets so that she has two catch it between the two and then throw it back.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
Does she know how to throw a ball correctly? Throwing is a specific skill that needs to be taught whether the child is a great athlete or not, and it has major carryover to everything related to tennis. If she knows how to throw, then you can tell her to think of the forehand not as a hit (or swat in her case) but a sidearm throw.
Interesting. I will try that one.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
+1 for making the player wait if this is the issue. If players aren't experienced at judging the ball flight they can hit it too early eg when the ball is on the rise which results in swatting as they're rushed. You could work on it by playing games where you have to let the ball bounce twice or three times, this could be catching it after two bounces or tapping it up with a racket after two bounces or trying to sandwich the ball into the floor just as it's hitting the floor etc.

Other ideas to encourage a shoulder turn:

Play a game where only deep shots are in, eg the service boxes are out.
Play with a really high net and make the target deep.
Throw a medicine ball back and forth with two hands.
Have her use two racquets so that she has two catch it between the two and then throw it back.
Thanks, I will try those. I like the high net idea and the lobster game idea.
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Most people I know say to have your racquet vertical at contact instead of tilted forward, unless your on top of the net.

Very good point and another reason to not believe any coach pushing it!

But probably just to get the feeling of brushing?

Then I have seen another tip: brush the racket vertically up a wall.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
We actually had a similar situation a few years ago, a girl who was a gymnast from the time she could walk, and then took up tennis at age 8. She now is 13 and a top 50 national junior.

I agree with the throwing, we do a ton of throws for distance. But in our experience, the girls with gymnastic ability have superior core strength. They are much more able to hit open and semi open stance shots early on. For whatever reason, its comes more naturally to them.

Of course she can not just "swat" or arm the ball. But once you get her following through and transferring her weight into the ball, let her hit with a more open stance if thats what is natural to her.
We actually had a similar situation a few years ago, a girl who was a gymnast from the time she could walk, and then took up tennis at age 8. She now is 13 and a top 50 national junior.

I agree with the throwing, we do a ton of throws for distance. But in our experience, the girls with gymnastic ability have superior core strength. They are much more able to hit open and semi open stance shots early on. For whatever reason, its comes more naturally to them.

Of course she can not just "swat" or arm the ball. But once you get her following through and transferring her weight into the ball, let her hit with a more open stance if thats what is natural to her.
That's encouraging. Thanks
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
try drop feeding from behind her (ball moving toward the net). impossible to swat, and promotes forward weight transfer.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
try drop feeding from behind her (ball moving toward the net). impossible to swat, and promotes forward weight transfer.
That was good advice. I started her off tossing a small five pound medicine ball with a forehand motion. Then I fed her balls from behind her. Then I had the courage to stand in front of her and have her hit over my head. Finished with giving her high bouncing balls and encouraging her to wait till the ball dropped into the lower hitting zone. She was hitting the ball better by the end of practice. She needs a lot of this to help her unlearn her old habit.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
We actually had a similar situation a few years ago, a girl who was a gymnast from the time she could walk, and then took up tennis at age 8. She now is 13 and a top 50 national junior.

I agree with the throwing, we do a ton of throws for distance. But in our experience, the girls with gymnastic ability have superior core strength. They are much more able to hit open and semi open stance shots early on. For whatever reason, its comes more naturally to them.

Of course she can not just "swat" or arm the ball. But once you get her following through and transferring her weight into the ball, let her hit with a more open stance if thats what is natural to her.
I told her and her mother your gymnast story and they liked it. She thinks she will eventually be too big to be a gymnast. So, I think she is signing up for a Nike tennis camp this summer to get super charged.
 
D

Deleted member 23235

Guest
That was good advice. I started her off tossing a small five pound medicine ball with a forehand motion. Then I fed her balls from behind her. Then I had the courage to stand in front of her and have her hit over my head. Finished with giving her high bouncing balls and encouraging her to wait till the ball dropped into the lower hitting zone. She was hitting the ball better by the end of practice. She needs a lot of this to help her unlearn her old habit.
lol, standing in front, and daring the kids to "hit me in the face" (presuming red balls)... and if they do, they are "rewarded" with me "dying"... is always a hit with the kids... but gosh i hate teaching any kids (other than my own and their friends/fam/teammates)...
 

WesternCK

Rookie
I have mixed emotions when I hear an 8 year old “can play with real balls” but also has trouble “swatting the ball”.

I personally teach most 8 year olds I encounter with the orange QuickStart balls but have also obviously seen 8 year olds (and younger) who can play amazing tennis with regular tennis balls.

In my opinion, you can do all the training you want but when it comes to actually hitting rallies or playing games from the baseline with real balls, she will continue to swat until she gets taller or improves her footwork.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
I have mixed emotions when I hear an 8 year old “can play with real balls” but also has trouble “swatting the ball”.

I personally teach most 8 year olds I encounter with the orange QuickStart balls but have also obviously seen 8 year olds (and younger) who can play amazing tennis with regular tennis balls.

In my opinion, you can do all the training you want but when it comes to actually hitting rallies or playing games from the baseline with real balls, she will continue to swat until she gets taller or improves her footwork.
I understand. I started her and her friend on red balls, then orange and green dot. She swatted those too. Her playing partner and her started at the same time. Her playing partner does not swat and the reason they are using regular balls is because one of them wanted to play up with 10-12 year olds. She can play with them. The gymnast didn't have time, so she stuck with weekly lesson. The one who plays up with older kids in group lessons has really advanced.
 

WesternCK

Rookie
I understand. I started her and her friend on red balls, then orange and green dot. She swatted those too. Her playing partner and her started at the same time. Her playing partner does not swat and the reason they are using regular balls is because one of them wanted to play up with 10-12 year olds. She can play with them. The gymnast didn't have time, so she stuck with weekly lesson. The one who plays up with older kids in group lessons has really advanced.

It’s difficult to know exactly what is going on without being there but I can only speak from experience in saying that if you’ve been with her long enough to have transitioned from red balls/orange balls to regular balls, then it’s most likely partiallya factor that she has been learning in a group, or semi-private environment. It can be difficult to fully get the point across when she’s having different issues than the other girl with her in the lesson.

My advice would be to figure out what type of learner she is and really go from there. If verbal instruction hasn’t worked with her, start demonstrating and physically doing things for her a lot more often than you have been. If you already have been doing those, try the one you’ve been doing the least, unless you already know what type of learner she is and have honed in on the area.

As you stated indirectly, she is improving when you give her drop feeds and that’s part of the process. At 8 years old, and at any age for that matter, things will be a little different when comparing a drop feed, to a toss feed, to a racket feed and finally actually hitting. They will all progress at different rates.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
It’s difficult to know exactly what is going on without being there but I can only speak from experience in saying that if you’ve been with her long enough to have transitioned from red balls/orange balls to regular balls, then it’s most likely partiallya factor that she has been learning in a group, or semi-private environment. It can be difficult to fully get the point across when she’s having different issues than the other girl with her in the lesson.

My advice would be to figure out what type of learner she is and really go from there. If verbal instruction hasn’t worked with her, start demonstrating and physically doing things for her a lot more often than you have been. If you already have been doing those, try the one you’ve been doing the least, unless you already know what type of learner she is and have honed in on the area.

As you stated indirectly, she is improving when you give her drop feeds and that’s part of the process. At 8 years old, and at any age for that matter, things will be a little different when comparing a drop feed, to a toss feed, to a racket feed and finally actually hitting. They will all progress at different rates.
Thanks for the help. The learning syles are visual, verbal and physical right. I always try to do all three, but yes...things do compete for their attention. I think the main thing is what gets it over the net for her is what is winning at the moment. She reverts back to that as soon as she misses a couple the correct way.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
+1 for making the player wait if this is the issue. If players aren't experienced at judging the ball flight they can hit it too early eg when the ball is on the rise which results in swatting as they're rushed. You could work on it by playing games where you have to let the ball bounce twice or three times, this could be catching it after two bounces or tapping it up with a racket after two bounces or trying to sandwich the ball into the floor just as it's hitting the floor etc.

Other ideas to encourage a shoulder turn

Play a game where only deep shots are in, eg the service boxes are out.
Play with a really high net and make the target deep.
Throw a medicine ball back and forth with two hands.
Have her use two racquets so that she has two catch it between the two and then throw it back.
These are all great suggestions. I really like the one where the service box is out. That will force them out of the swat. I also like the idea of them catching it on their racquet. This would force them to wait till it drops. Awesome suggestions.
 

Clay Mize

Rookie
She has that fear of the ball might go past her. Thus, her mindset is take the ball from the front as early as possible.
Feed her several balls higher than her head and tell her to wait for the ball to drop before hitting it higher than you and over the net.
She'll learn the art of waiting.
This has revolutionized my teaching. I realized I had a lot of kids who were not waiting on the ball which is ok, but they don't get the feel for consistently hitting low to high in the sweet spot. I created my own drill that I call "wait on it." I toss the ball high and start saying over and over wait on it. This gives them time to adjust their feet and really swing harder and finish over their shoulder. I had a brand new 11 year old who is quite awkward and not so athletic. Doing this drill allowed him to hit a few in the sweet spot and he looked like a little professional. We both got excited and now I think he is hooked.
 

watungga

Professional
This has revolutionized my teaching. I realized I had a lot of kids who were not waiting on the ball which is ok, but they don't get the feel for consistently hitting low to high in the sweet spot. I created my own drill that I call "wait on it." I toss the ball high and start saying over and over wait on it. This gives them time to adjust their feet and really swing harder and finish over their shoulder. I had a brand new 11 year old who is quite awkward and not so athletic. Doing this drill allowed him to hit a few in the sweet spot and he looked like a little professional. We both got excited and now I think he is hooked.

Oh darn! I knew it! I have the skills to be a coach too....
Glad to be of great help. Kudos to your kids!
 
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