Teaching a beginner

[ddzc]

Hi all,

Love the forum!!

I'm seeking some advice and guidance here. I myself, picked up on the sport fairly quickly on how to play (couple of hrs). I'm trying to teach a close friend (female), whom does not have good eye/hand coordination (I see this in all sports). I'm trying to teach her and i'm wondering what type of drills or training you guys recommend on the court. So far, i'm teaching her on how to hold the racquet, how to hit and I continously lob balls to her in the serving box so she can get the feel of hitting it over net. Most of the lobs she will get with weak returns but a logb outsied of the box or with a tad of force, she misses the ball, hits extremely high long balls or hits them over the fence or in the other courts.

We don't play too too often but I will start taking her to the courts more ofen this summer.

So i'm wondering if you guys have any recommendations for drills on the court and practice methods.

Thanks

 

[MasterBruceTennis]

^^^ Please read the thread "Do you consciously try to hit the sweetspot" carefully. I would not repeat the contents again.

In addition, (1) Play catch and throw to get some bounce/catch/direct sense. (2) Have her hit the ball carefully at the ball’s '6' oclcok area (emphasis a little: not outside the 5 and 7). This will guide her racquet face to contact the ball better. (3) Tell her to treat the ball as a ‘gentle’ friend (like you), she does not need to ‘kill’ the ball with a lot of power—just enough to get over the net. (4) Always try to get the ball over the net.

This is what had happened (in your mind) in your 2 hrs. She can do the same and hit the ball straight like you soon.

Once both of you can hit the ball straight, you have to learn tennis basics and essences ‘right away’ before some not-so-good habits get into you and her.

 

[Steady Eddy]

Once I was practicing alone and I asked a girl who was on the bench if she'd like to hit. I thought she knew how to play, but she was a beginner. She stood at the service line, (which to a beginner might seem like the middle of the court), and I had trouble feeding her. Then I asked her to stand back at the baseline, and it got alot better. Then I told her to not worry about getting the ball after only one bounce, but to just stay back. Now she started to look like a tennis player. So based on this maybe you should have her stay back by the baseline, let short balls bounce twice and learn a dependable stroke. Beginners often think they should work on scrambling around a court. That stuff doesn't really help their game.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

Hi all,

Love the forum!!

I'm seeking some advice and guidance here. I myself, picked up on the sport fairly quickly on how to play (couple of hrs). I'm trying to teach a close friend (female), whom does not have good eye/hand coordination (I see this in all sports). I'm trying to teach her and i'm wondering what type of drills or training you guys recommend on the court. So far, i'm teaching her on how to hold the racquet, how to hit and I continously lob balls to her in the serving box so she can get the feel of hitting it over net. Most of the lobs she will get with weak returns but a logb outsied of the box or with a tad of force, she misses the ball, hits extremely high long balls or hits them over the fence or in the other courts.

We don't play too too often but I will start taking her to the courts more ofen this summer.

So i'm wondering if you guys have any recommendations for drills on the court and practice methods.

Thanks

I would recommend slowing things down. You can play mini-tennis so you dont overload her brain with too much to calculate and think about. Another thing you can do is use those oversized foam balls made by Gama. They have worked wonders for my kids in teaching them good stoke mechanics while developing their coordination.

 

[simi]

...I continuously lob balls to her in the serving box so she can get the feel of hitting it over net....

Don't hit lobs to her. They are too inconsistent. Instead, just feed her, trying to clear the net by about five-six feet and bouncing near the service line.

Hitting against a wall is good, and if available, a ball machine. That way, you can be on the same side of the court with her to give her instructions.

 

[dpfrazier]

Have her bounce the ball on the racquet face repeatedly to get some hand-eye coordination going, and to see how the ball comes off the strings. Also, have her try dribbling the ball with the racquet.

One of the advantages of these types of drills is that she can do them on her own...

 

[SlapShot]

I've been working on teaching my GF, who hasn't played any sports requiring hand-eye coordination, for the past month or so. One thing that has helped for me, at least in terms of developing good strokes, is starting at the service line with some deadball feeds.

I've been working just forehand for a while, and then move to the baseline, and the same with the backhand. I think that starting at the service line is helpful because it definitely makes the task seem a bit smaller. When she moves back to the baseline, she does well because it takes a split second longer for the ball to get there.

 

[ddzc]

wow, thanks a lot for the responses

MasterBruceTennis, i'll check that thread out. I'll take those tips into consideration..but im a bit unclear regarding #2. I can actually hit the ball straight...I usually accurately lob the ball to her left side and then her right to practice her fore/back hand techniques. She usually has the habit of hitting her forehands with both arms which i'm always telling her not to do..shes starting to get better at that

Steady Eddy:i'll try your technique with the double bounce. When she stepped further from the service line, she would get it over the net 1/10 times..which is why i'm trying to train her in the service center before spreading apart a bit which makes it a bit more difficult. I don't usually make her scramble..I lob the balls to her directly or a 1-2 metres from her left or right.

Bungalo Bill: i'll look in to the overside balls. thanks

simi : my lobs were somewhat consistant..i'm pretty accurate with the lobying, especially in the service box. I like the machine idea..might be a bit too pricey though.

dpfrazier: I like that idea b/c she can't seem to dribble properly when she attampted the other day. Even if she attempts to serve..when she throws the ball in the air she throws it behind her or too forward lol kind of funny to watch after a few attempts. I'll consider that.

SlapShot : this is actually what im doing now. I don't want to bring her to the baseline until she gets better in the service box. If I move her away from the box, its almost impossible to get a return from a simple volley/lob.

 

[SlapShot]

SlapShot : this is actually what im doing now. I don't want to bring her to the baseline until she gets better in the service box. If I move her away from the box, its almost impossible to get a return from a simple volley/lob.

Don't lob. It's tough to judge the bounce when you're getting started.

Your feed should be relatively flat, or maybe even have just a touch of underspin to slow the ball down off of the bounce. Feed into the strike zone.

 

[MasterBruceTennis]

wow, thanks a lot for the responses

MasterBruceTennis, i'll check that thread out. I'll take those tips into consideration..but im a bit unclear regarding #2. I can actually hit the ball straight...I usually accurately lob the ball to her left side and then her right to practice her fore/back hand techniques. She usually has the habit of hitting her forehands with both arms which i'm always telling her not to do..shes starting to get better at that

ddzc, http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=2775263 will give you a idea of #2.

 

[ddzc]

SlapShot , sorry, when I meant lob, I meant low lobs. They're still low, slow and underpowered shots. I'm not shooting them too high that would confuse her on the bounce.

 

[ddzc]

thanks masterbruce

 

[CoachingMastery]

Your question raises a question: how good do you want your friend to get? If you want to just have her rally, dink balls back and forth with you, then you can use practically any stroke method and have her simply "find the ball" and "finish the swing" at speeds that will give her a chance at success.

However, such methods, regardless of whether or not she has good coordination or athleticism, will fail to allow her to learn to play the game with any skill.

In terms of drills, I would not toss balls to her at all, but use drop feeds so she can get a feel for creating a reliable swing path, then back away from her in incremental steps so-as to allow her to use this developed stroke with balls further away, working on getting her to again, "find the ball" at a good location for her stroke.

Generally, anyone who has not been taught the game within appropriate strokes will flail away with what they percieve as a way to hit the ball. In most cases, this is rudementary at best, and leads to more problems as they play more and more. (Which explains why the vast majority of players who are 'self taugh' either seek lessons later--when they see themselves not improving--or simply stagnate at levels far below their ability.

Read some books on tennis; there are also web sites that offer a "blue print" in helping develop any beginner the right way.

Good luck!

 

[ddzc]

Hi Coach,,

My goal is for her to play well. Basically, my first goal is for her to successfully rally around the court with decent velocity as opposed to slow lobs. What e-books and sites do you recommend?

 

[CoachingMastery]

Hi Coach,,

My goal is for her to play well. Basically, my first goal is for her to successfully rally around the court with decent velocity as opposed to slow lobs. What e-books and sites do you recommend?

I have to recommend TennisOne.com for both personal as well as professional reasons. TennisPlayer.net, Fuzzyyellowballs.com and hi-techtennis.com are all excellent too.

My first book, TENNIS MASTERY is now available as an e-book. Go to www.coaching-mastery.com for information about that as well as my both my books...which have both been regarded as two of the best books on tennis by many. (Please read the unsolicitated reviews on the tenniswarehouse book feedbacks on my first book, Tennis Mastery for more info.)

I do suggest that you look not for the length of the rally per se at this stage, but the quality of the strokes being used. Almost anyone can learn to rally by sheer trial and error, but, as my books point out (and as I have spoken on this subject at various conferences too), players who learn inferior methods just so that they can indeed "rally" are going to be frustrated and have a difficult time transitioning to more advanced grips, strokes and footwork patterns when they do start to want to get better.

Just a cautionary note. I wish you and your 'student' well!

 

[Solat]

I would recommend slowing things down. You can play mini-tennis so you dont overload her brain with too much to calculate and think about. Another thing you can do is use those oversized foam balls made by Gama. They have worked wonders for my kids in teaching them good stoke mechanics while developing their coordination.

pay attention to this and all will be good for you

 

[Cindysphinx]

Ditto the over-size foam balls. I use them with my son.

I've also tried using them with my teammates, with poor results. Everyone tries to kill them rather than work on their technique. Too bad.

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

Ditto the over-size foam balls. I use them with my son.

I've also tried using them with my teammates, with poor results. Everyone tries to kill them rather than work on their technique. Too bad.

For adults, (and bigger kids) you might try something like the Prince Play+Stay balls. They are colored to show spin, lighter, slower, and much softer. I think the stage 1 balls are 25% speed reduced, and the stage 2 50%. Wilson also has some branded as EZ Play.

 

[sp00q]

My first advice to you is to book some tennis lessons with a tennis instructor. He's going to make things a lot more fun because he knows how to feed you the ball. I assume you aren't an advanced player, so the balls you feed to your friend aren't very accurate.

In case you don't want to do that, just use the balls you have and the racquets you have and keep hitting that ball with her. Don't be too cautios about how you get the ball to your friend. When you lob the ball it bounces high and high balls are difficult for everyone. Hit long and with medium pace and your girl will improve immediately.

Have fun on the court.