Is Mini Tennis/Tennis 10s really necessary to develop as a young player?

S

SJ17

New User
Hey guys, I've been assisting in Mini Tennis lessons for a while now and i recently had a 6 year old student that joined our program. I fed him some balls on a Mini red court and the child hit very heavy forehands with mini red balls but a lot of them landed out. But his technique was great & really knew what he was doing on court. So i decided to try him on a full court after the child & his father told me that he doesn't use mini tennis balls and had be practicing with standard yellow balls for 18 months with a full sized net on a full sized court. So i fed some yellow balls to him & he really hit them with great technique. Easten forehand, didn't really shank or net many balls. Understandably depth was lacking every now & then but most of his strokes were in. After coaching the child, i sat down to think a bit and reverted by to myself, when i was about 8 (I am 17 atm) and how i learnt tennis without a single ounce of mini tennis training & now plplaying at a solid level (4.0-4.5 tested). So back to this student, i noticed how mini Tennis has hampered a lot of kids development as the process is a bit long & drawn out. If kids started with a yellow ball from day one & get used to the bounce, by time they are 8-9 their strokes will develop quicker and more fluidly as opposed to using 3 different compressed balls with various types of bounces & speeds. I found mini tennis (orange & green more so) to be ideal to be more of a money spinner rather than a necessity to develop as a player. Many countries like Japan, Korea, France & Poland don't use mini tennis much as the UK, Aussies & US do & develop more technically sound players because of it. What do you think? I'd imagine the older guys would agree as mini tennis wasn't a thing back in their day while younger guys might disagree a bit.

Would love to hear all your thoughts.
 
It's only an issue if the kid has used adult balls before. If you introduce and stick with the mini balls the player will progress fine. But you can't mix them otherwise you're doing the kid harm.
 
eelhc said:
Yep...

We'll know in a few years when the kids who grew up with this start playing internationally but my guess that US tennis stays in obscurity and this isn't helping.

Here's the French take...

http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6765
Click to expand...

This isn't just about producing world class tennis players. It's about improving the game for all kids.

Our biggest issue internationally is the same as it is in soccer, our best athletes don't play tennis.
 
eelhc said:
Yep...

We'll know in a few years when the kids who grew up with this start playing internationally but my guess that US tennis stays in obscurity and this isn't helping.

Here's the French take...

http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6765
Click to expand...

Startzel said:
This isn't just about producing world class tennis players. It's about improving the game for all kids.

Our biggest issue internationally is the same as it is in soccer, our best athletes don't play tennis.
Click to expand...

They are related... More top players produced, more interest in the game. That said, the best athletes should not play tennis if they need to make a living from it Much easier in other sports where you can be top ~200 your entire career and still make a great living.

The article is about the French take a balance approach.
 
Obviously not necessary because all players up to the most recent years grew up without mini-tennis. Still, dads would often cut off the end of wood rackets and kids would usually use dead balls. Main thing is that the kids like it and hit the ball a lot. I don't think anything much matters other than hitting tennis balls with good form.
 
SJ17 said:
Many countries like Japan, Korea, France & Poland don't use mini tennis much as the UK, Aussies & US do & develop more technically sound players because of it.
Click to expand...
Haha no. Mini-tennis is extremely common here and very often used as a warmup before doing full court tennis (but with yellow balls). However, we're indeed not as rigid as the USA are.
 
Last edited:
USPTA player envelopment

SJ17 said:
Hey guys, I've been assisting in Mini Tennis lessons for a while now and i recently had a 6 year old student that joined our program. I fed him some balls on a Mini red court and the child hit very heavy forehands with mini red balls but a lot of them landed out. But his technique was great & really knew what he was doing on court. So i decided to try him on a full court after the child & his father told me that he doesn't use mini tennis balls and had be practicing with standard yellow balls for 18 months with a full sized net on a full sized court. So i fed some yellow balls to him & he really hit them with great technique. Easten forehand, didn't really shank or net many balls. Understandably depth was lacking every now & then but most of his strokes were in. After coaching the child, i sat down to think a bit and reverted by to myself, when i was about 8 (I am 17 atm) and how i learnt tennis without a single ounce of mini tennis training & now plplaying at a solid level (4.0-4.5 tested). So back to this student, i noticed how mini Tennis has hampered a lot of kids development as the process is a bit long & drawn out. If kids started with a yellow ball from day one & get used to the bounce, by time they are 8-9 their strokes will develop quicker and more fluidly as opposed to using 3 different compressed balls with various types of bounces & speeds. I found mini tennis (orange & green more so) to be ideal to be more of a money spinner rather than a necessity to develop as a player. Many countries like Japan, Korea, France & Poland don't use mini tennis much as the UK, Aussies & US do & develop more technically sound players because of it. What do you think? I'd imagine the older guys would agree as mini tennis wasn't a thing back in their day while younger guys might disagree a bit.

Would love to hear all your thoughts.
Click to expand...
http://www.dartfish.tv/Player.aspx?CR=p611c91651m2275956&CL=1
 
Startzel said:
This isn't just about producing world class tennis players. It's about improving the game for all kids.

Our biggest issue internationally is the same as it is in soccer, our best athletes don't play tennis.
Click to expand...
Game, set, match. Great post.

Anyone who doesn't want their kids to participate can take their balls and go do their own thing. Good luck. Don't forget the backhand and return of serve...
 
Getting back to the OP...I think that each kid is different. Some kids progress much faster than others. If the kid can handle the bigger court, racquet, and bouncier balls, move them up a stage at a time. For someone who is a true prodigy it won't take long to get to full court. But that shouldn't mean that others who haven't progressed to that stage should just forgo a part of the transition just to keep up with the prodigy and risk missing out on that opportunity to learn to construct points in an appropriately sized court.

I watch kids play on the full court with real balls and they have no idea about proper spacing and are constantly hitting balls from all crazy positions that good players only have to deal with under extreme circumstances.

I think the smaller courts are progress. Just don't forbid kids from playing up on full courts when they are ready to just because their age isn't appropriate.
 
msalamon said:
My son is two and I train him with red foam, red felt, and regular yellow-he hits them all!

www.zevtennis.com
Click to expand...

Nice, I had my kid out on the court when he was 3. We used yellow balls. When I play a "silly" game with him, he would be able to hit the balls like 6 or 7 out of 10 (some backhand). We didn't do it too often because he just wasn't very happy when missing. At 4, I signed him up for group lessons and he couldn't hit the red balls. He was too used to hit the more bouncy balls. I had to take him out and show him the red balls don't bounce as much. After that he wouldn't have problems. I do have to remind him sometimes that balls don't bounce the same. He is 6 now. I'm not a "tennis dad" but we will try to do more tennis this spring and summer. I'm afraid he is going to HATE to loose so... that's something I have to help him deal with.

My point, there are many type of kids. The red balls give chances to the vast majority of kids. Yes, there are kids out there that don't need red balls but a kid should be able to hit anything and adjust. That's what happen in real life (temperature, wind, indoor/outdoor, fast/slow courts, spin, etc).

Here is my kid a little older than a year old trying to hit some balls on his own. Man, they grow so fast :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pMuohHzhek
 
heninfan99 said:
If you mean quick start, it is not necessary.
Click to expand...

To bring tennis to the masses (remember not all kids are athletic and coordinated) and make sure kids stick to it, I think it is. Could have tennis survived without quick start? Of course. I think the number of kids playing tennis is going to/increasing due to it. I think it will benefit more kids that will hurt anyone. I believe it has more pros and cons. The star kids will still be the star kids. The kids that were not able to hit much will be able to hit more, make it more enjoyable and improving their confidence.
 
Mini tennis is best for maybe 90% of the kids. It enables kids with limited perception and coordination (most kids) to be able to rally in a short amount of time. So they can actually play tennis, and not just stand in lines trying to learn technique for years.

The kids with more talent should be progressed through to regular balls (or at least green dot) and full court very quickly, and I think most coaches do that. I have a 9 year old girl in my tournament squad, and I don't doubt the decision for a minute.

I used to assist a coach who brought up 5 kids who are currently ranked top 10 in the country for their age, and I know they never hit a modified ball, and would get scolded if they dared hit a ball short. :)

I don't believe there will ever be a pro player who spent more than a few months in a mini system.
 
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