Teaching tennis to girlfriend

hobl4

hobl4

Rookie
I want to teach my girlfriend how to play tennis. We have basically unlimited access to a tennis court during spring/summer. I have played with her a few times before just for fun but I really want to teach her so she can get good.

What should I start with when teaching her? I would like to teach her proper form (ATP forehand and so on) but I don't know if that's the best way to start. Should we use those softer red kids' balls in the beginning or just go with regular balls?
 
Ohhhh that's a tough one haha

First she needs to get a feel for the ball and the racquet, so just normal rallying for now will be good I'd say. Just go out there and have fun with her, that's the most important thing for now :)
 
Is she athletic at all? There are some people who are just not good movers, and assuming she's an adult, that's not something you can easily change.

Have her hit against a wall just to develop some of the basic eye-hand coordination. Attempting to rally with someone who cannot even get the racquet and ball to meet is an exercise in frustration that results in more exercise for you as you chase balls all over the place.

I generally don't give any advice to friends unless it's asked for. Not everyone is open to taking advice from their "peers". Will your girlfriend be willing to listen to your advice?
 
I've taught snowboarding (Loon Mtn, NH), and teach tennis now...
...and I always paid for my girlfriend to take lessons (I just use my expertise to vet the instructor :P)
...and now that we're married, I think the lessons worked :P
Too many mixed emotional messages get communicated in the significantOther/teacher relationship...

That said, if you still choose to accept this mission.... I'd start with red balls for a lesson or 2.
Even now I find it fun (and useful to get feel) to goof with red balls (heavy topspin, little backswing, full follow through) - using service box as mini tennis court.
In general I think people really underestimate the importance of feeling how to hit a tennis ball correctly (as evidenced by the public court players that have not idea how to play mini tennis with abbreviated backswings)
 
Hangman said:
Be careful, the last time I taught my girlfriend how to play tennis, she ended up becoming my wife.. ;)
Click to expand...

Technically that happened to me too!

Serious suggestion to @hobl4 - keep it light and make it accessible for your girlfriend - use the modified equipment if you need to so that she can at least "play" the game as quickly as possible. If she asks for help, by all means help where you can, but keep it light!
 
It would probably be easier to find a girl that already plays tennis well if you have the resources. Most of the women that I know that played tennis well in college married quite well.
 
dct693 said:
Is she athletic at all? There are some people who are just not good movers, and assuming she's an adult, that's not something you can easily change.

Have her hit against a wall just to develop some of the basic eye-hand coordination. Attempting to rally with someone who cannot even get the racquet and ball to meet is an exercise in frustration that results in more exercise for you as you chase balls all over the place.

I generally don't give any advice to friends unless it's asked for. Not everyone is open to taking advice from their "peers". Will your girlfriend be willing to listen to your advice?
Click to expand...
She isn't very athletic but she's been going to the gym with me for a couple of months now and I've seen some real improvement in her stamina and strength. She's told me she wants to take up a real sport and tennis is a ntaural choice because I play and we could play it together.

nytennisaddict said:
I've taught snowboarding (Loon Mtn, NH), and teach tennis now...
...and I always paid for my girlfriend to take lessons (I just use my expertise to vet the instructor :p)
...and now that we're married, I think the lessons worked :p
Too many mixed emotional messages get communicated in the significantOther/teacher relationship...

That said, if you still choose to accept this mission.... I'd start with red balls for a lesson or 2.
Even now I find it fun (and useful to get feel) to goof with red balls (heavy topspin, little backswing, full follow through) - using service box as mini tennis court.
In general I think people really underestimate the importance of feeling how to hit a tennis ball correctly (as evidenced by the public court players that have not idea how to play mini tennis with abbreviated backswings)
Click to expand...

You know what, I like the idea of using red balls a lot. She can swing more freely then and learn to hit with a relaxed arm. She'll be hitting Federer tier forehands after I'm done with her.
 
Ash_Smith said:
Technically that happened to me too!

Serious suggestion to @hobl4 - keep it light and make it accessible for your girlfriend - use the modified equipment if you need to so that she can at least "play" the game as quickly as possible. If she asks for help, by all means help where you can, but keep it light!
Click to expand...
What type of racquet do you recommend to her? A children's racquet at first or a lighter full length racquet?
 
hobl4 said:
I want to teach my girlfriend how to play tennis. We have basically unlimited access to a tennis court during spring/summer. I have played with her a few times before just for fun but I really want to teach her so she can get good.

What should I start with when teaching her? I would like to teach her proper form (ATP forehand and so on) but I don't know if that's the best way to start. Should we use those softer red kids' balls in the beginning or just go with regular balls?
Click to expand...

So many possible jokes, so little time
 
Ash_Smith said:
Technically that happened to me too!

Serious suggestion to @hobl4 - keep it light and make it accessible for your girlfriend - use the modified equipment if you need to so that she can at least "play" the game as quickly as possible. If she asks for help, by all means help where you can, but keep it light!
Click to expand...

Oscar Wegner methods are the best to quickly bring beginners into the modern topspin game
 
I think the best thing to do is just take her to the tennis courts and hit balls with her. Not in a teaching kinda sense, but just a fun playful hitting balls back and forth. This would be just so that she is comfortable and relaxed and is not intimidated by the fact that you can play and she cannot. Make sure you treat it as just a good time only and not set any expectations of teaching her or expecting her to know how or be able to hit. When she is ready, she will ask you to help her hit better, correct her strokes etc.. By that time, she would be more comfortable and will not take any instructions of corrections from you in a negative manner, and it allows her to set her own pace. Once that starts, then you can focus on getting her to improve, but allow her to set the pace on when she wants to get to that level.
 
This thread's timing is very coincidental. I just had a conversation the other day with my SO about when we're going to play tennis next (she rarely plays).

She said she just wants to have fun and don't care so much about improving. I guess I'll just need to accept that and have fun when hitting with her.

That's something to find out/observe when you're hitting with her whether she'd like to improve or just hit and have fun. Enjoy ....
 
This will end badly. Younger guys put way too much importance on sharing athletic activities with GFs. Most women just do not have the interest and get annoyed and frustrated. They are doing it to please the guy and end up being resentful.

My advice is go out and feed her balls for 30 minutes or so then suggest going to lunch or a movie. See if she eagerly accepts or demands to practice more.
 
Should I just sign her up for tennis lessons at the local club? Maybe she'd learn faster that way because those coaches usually know what they're doing.
 
I'd go with what @RetroSpin said. Hit with her a bit and gauge whether she really just want to have fun, or whether she really has the desire to improve/get better so she can enjoy the sport better.
 
hobl4 said:
Should I just sign her up for tennis lessons at the local club? Maybe she'd learn faster that way because those coaches usually know what they're doing.
Click to expand...

Teaching tennis or driving to someone close to you are both highly volatile activities and best left to neutral third parties with thick skins. I taught my son driving for 1 year before handing him over to a professional. I tried to teach my wife driving, and it did not work out at all.
 
hobl4 said:
Should I just sign her up for tennis lessons at the local club? Maybe she'd learn faster that way because those coaches usually know what they're doing.
Click to expand...
This is a good idea to get her started. I don't think you mentioned your own level but if it's much higher than beginner than I don't know how much fun you'll have together.

Eventually you may just settle into rallying and not being competitive. I have a bunch of partners who I rally with but with whom I would never play a match.
 
I think most beginners are more receptive to pros. You may know a lot more tennis than them, but if they dont choose to see you as a mentor, you cant teach them anything. I used to try to teach my sister, but now we just rally and I let coaches try to sort out her technique.

I guess if you go in there with a really forceful attitude, it might be possible, but thats risky...
 
dct693 said:
This is a good idea to get her started. I don't think you mentioned your own level but if it's much higher than beginner than I don't know how much fun you'll have together.

Eventually you may just settle into rallying and not being competitive. I have a bunch of partners who I rally with but with whom I would never play a match.
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I don't know how to describe my level but I've been playing for over 10 years, starting at 10-12 years old. I took lessons for about 5 or 6 years. I haven't competed much.

I really just want to be able to rally with her. I would never play points with her, that just seems like a recipe for disaster. I don't even feel it's necessary to teach her to serve, unless she wants to. I just want to teach her to hit solid groundstrokes so we can rally together and hopefully have fun and break a sweat in the meantime.
 
hobl4 said:
You know what, I like the idea of using red balls a lot. She can swing more freely then and learn to hit with a relaxed arm. She'll be hitting Federer tier forehands after I'm done with her.
Click to expand...
Drop feeding with red balls is a great start. Allows one to see the effect of swing path and ball spin easily. And balls aren't flying long with the corresponding natural response to start bunting.

That said I've tried this briefly a couple of times and was shocked to see how poorly some start swinging .... and how difficult it can be to get a remotely reasonable looking swing path. I'd be a terrible coach. Good luck!
 
It's better to think of it as just hitting with her instead of teaching - unless you are teaching pro quality yourself.. (play wise).. One thing you could do is go through some progressions with her as that might help you too.. That's more team spirit - like learning together. As others have eluded too - going in and saying do x y z doesn't work well.
 
hobl4 said:
I want to teach my girlfriend how to play tennis.
Click to expand...
How about your girlfriend, does she want to be taught tennis by you?

If the answer is not a resounding "yes of course", be worried......

17-big-signs-of-a-jealous-and-possessive-boyfriend.jpg


:D
 
hobl4 said:
I want to teach my girlfriend how to play tennis. We have basically unlimited access to a tennis court during spring/summer. I have played with her a few times before just for fun but I really want to teach her so she can get good.

What should I start with when teaching her? I would like to teach her proper form (ATP forehand and so on) but I don't know if that's the best way to start. Should we use those softer red kids' balls in the beginning or just go with regular balls?
Click to expand...
I take it your girlfriend is a blind, deaf, mute? Otherwise, you might want to just ask HER.

newpball said:
How about your girlfriend, does she want to be taught tennis by you?

If the answer is not a resounding "yes of course", be worried......

17-big-signs-of-a-jealous-and-possessive-boyfriend.jpg


:D
Click to expand...
One person got the correct answer.
 
Here's a better idea. Teach yourself how to play tennis this summer.

Take your girlfriend out to eat and on a vacation. You'll both be happier.
 
I've instructed my wife on both golf and tennis. I think in the end I probably saved thousands of dollars in expensive lessons by doing so. Is my wife good? No. Would a tennis pro or golf pro made her good? No. At least not from what I've seen her take from the few lessons she's had. If you want to teach someone tennis or golf and have them perform at a high level, a) start early and b) hope they have some athletic skill.

If your GF has limited athleticism and has never been sporty than i'd suggest giving it up now. Find some hobby that's non-athletic you can do together. I think similar interests are key to good marriages so finding common ground beyond sex is crucial. If she is an atheltic woman than i'd suggest tennis and golf are excellent sports to teach her as they age very well. Skiing is another excellent couples sport but more location limiting.
If she's not athletic but fitness oriented then running, triathlons, crossfit might be a good consideration for a common activity.

If you do persist in teaching tennis, I'd suggest having her get one or two lessons from a pro and then have you practice with her. Feed her balls until she can rally. Practice serving at each other. But only try to emphasize what the coach told her. You'll know pretty quickly whether tennis is something she's going to like or not. But admittedly I can't recall any woman who's been non-athletic growing up suddenly taking to a sport like tennis. So much hand eye coordination and ball judgement.
 
hobl4 said:
I don't know how to describe my level but I've been playing for over 10 years, starting at 10-12 years old. I took lessons for about 5 or 6 years. I haven't competed much.

I really just want to be able to rally with her. I would never play points with her, that just seems like a recipe for disaster. I don't even feel it's necessary to teach her to serve, unless she wants to. I just want to teach her to hit solid groundstrokes so we can rally together and hopefully have fun and break a sweat in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. Rallying is something you can do that is good for both of you. I find it valuable to rally with people of all levels.
 
hobl4 said:
Should I just sign her up for tennis lessons at the local club? Maybe she'd learn faster that way because those coaches usually know what they're doing.
Click to expand...

Yes but dude the key is not whether or not she learns or not. The key is that if you try to teach her, it will go BADLY!
 
I've seen a few good replies, that get to the heart of the matter.
Did she ask for help? If not, leave her along
As a matter of fact, one of the best rules I have is to NEVER offer to teach/explain etc anything to my wife. This has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I've found that the vast majority of people don't want unsolicited advice/help. The closer the relationship the less they want it.
Additionally:
-If she does ask for help, great. If any any point she decides she wants to stop, stop immediately. No pushing, not questioning, nothing. Just stop.

So, back to the beginning: Did she ask for help? (If you addressed this earlier and I missed it, my apologies)
 
I'm a coach. Start with the forehand on progression one with a continental grip. Hand feed from the other side of the net with her stood half way up the service box in a closed stance. Hit a bucket then move her back to just behind the service line. After a couple of buckets finish off with some rallying and a fun game. It's important that sees improvements and has fun. She will want to continue if so...
 
Lance L said:
I've seen a few good replies, that get to the heart of the matter.
Did she ask for help? If not, leave her along
As a matter of fact, one of the best rules I have is to NEVER offer to teach/explain etc anything to my wife. This has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I've found that the vast majority of people don't want unsolicited advice/help. The closer the relationship the less they want it.
Additionally:
-If she does ask for help, great. If any any point she decides she wants to stop, stop immediately. No pushing, not questioning, nothing. Just stop.

So, back to the beginning: Did she ask for help? (If you addressed this earlier and I missed it, my apologies)
Click to expand...

She didn't ask me really. I just suggested her that we could play during the summer. She was excited about it. I didn't ask her if she wanted me to teach her to play better. I'm not sure how she would react if I tried to teach her. She might get cranky and stop playing with me. I don't want that to happen.

I want to thank you guys for your advice. Based on your advice I've decided that I will just hit with her for fun and not try to teach her. I will get a can of red balls. It will be easier for her to hit with them at first. If she gets excited about tennis she can take lessons at the club.
 
hobl4 said:
I want to teach my girlfriend how to play tennis. We have basically unlimited access to a tennis court during spring/summer. I have played with her a few times before just for fun but I really want to teach her so she can get good.

What should I start with when teaching her? I would like to teach her proper form (ATP forehand and so on) but I don't know if that's the best way to start. Should we use those softer red kids' balls in the beginning or just go with regular balls?
Click to expand...
Stay out of it! Hire an ugly Pro!
 
I trained my ex-gf (now my wife lol) tennis and she has a stable forehand now. For starters I found that the wall is a better option compared to the tennis court. At this stage, even your house backyard wall will do the trick. Aim is to get her to be familiarized with the ball bounce/characteristics. Work slowly on trying to get the feel of the ball bouncing on the racquet face. Once she's familiarized on the racquet sweet spot, you can start with 1 bounce racquet face, 1 bounce wall. When she starts to get the hang of it, you can do rallies with her ala squash style. Once she's gotten the hang of it, probably you could go full squash style mode rally. Keep gentle tap up to encourage ball control. Good luck and cheers!
 
hobl4 said:
We broke up two months ago.. for reasons unrelated to teaching her tennis. I think..
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Perhaps you shouldn't have been teaching those other girls tennis too... :P
Seriously, sorry to hear. More time to play!
 
This is the basics of tennis. Very visual learning if she is that type of learner. The strokes are simple, when she gets better then add loop later! Great way to understand kinetic chain etc. Video By John Yandell....90's but good for the beginner! :)
 
hobl4 said:
We broke up two months ago.. for reasons unrelated to teaching her tennis. I think..
Click to expand...

Don't worry buddy, and I'm pretty sure tennis had nothing to do with it.
I like comparing love to a lottery, and to a school. I find both pretty spot on, each in it's own way. But once you fully realize that I guarantee you loads of laugh :)
 
I watched the serve sequence fro 45 mins into the video and practised in a set today. Greatly improved my consistency. Problem with us rec players is that we don't want to let the fundamentals soak in but try to jump directly to something we see on TV. Old video (I used to own the book) but can easily take you to 4.5 unlike all the snake oil promising videos out there. I will continue to stick with the serve checkpoints and retool the stroke
 
hobl4 said:
I want to teach my girlfriend how to play tennis. We have basically unlimited access to a tennis court during spring/summer. I have played with her a few times before just for fun but I really want to teach her so she can get good.

What should I start with when teaching her? I would like to teach her proper form (ATP forehand and so on) but I don't know if that's the best way to start. Should we use those softer red kids' balls in the beginning or just go with regular balls?
Click to expand...
do you have any pictures ?
 
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