September 19, 2003, Newsletter Issue #88: 7 Tips to Get Your Child Excited About the Game of Tennis!

Tip of the Week

"Want to practice with your beginning child?"
- 7 tips to make practice more fun
by Joe Dinoffer
With millions of children in the United States playing tennis regularly, parents by the tens of thousands are asking, "How can I help my tennis-playing child improve and have more fun at the same time?" Of course, a large portion of these children are taking some sort of tennis instruction already, but you, the parent, want to also help. This question of how to help is a very important question to ask, and to the parents who have asked or thought about asking this question, we salute you. This article is written for you.

In this article we will suggest seven principles to keep in mind with all the games and exercises you play with your beginning child. Note that I use the word play, not teach or instruct. Parents who try to "teach" their children are typically doomed to fail. The child gets confused with just who this person is, parent or teacher. You know the scenario. When you try to teach your own child, they don`t listen or become too familiar since you are, after all, the father or mother, and not the "normal" teacher. On the other side, the parent generally loses patience because their high expectations (a normal parent attitude) are impossible to be met by their child. The good thing about wanting to help your young child through the beginning phase of playing tennis is that you don`t have to be a talented player yourself, or even know that much about the game. The most important qualification for a parent during this phase is desire and enthusiasm.

1. Enter the world of pretend - Young children (3-9 years old) have fantastic imaginations. The love the world of pretend. I remember playing a game with my own daughter where I got her to act like our own cat. You know what our cat does before jumping? She wiggles her rump. So, picture a little girl, giggling, making cat noises, wiggling when in a good ready position, pouncing towards the ball, and then pretending her swing is a cat pawing a ball of yarn. We had a blast!
2. Don`t be afraid to sing - Make up a rhyme or make up a song as you are tossing balls to your child. Pick a familiar tune like "London Bridge" and sing "Hit your forehand low to high, low to high, low to high…" You`ll be amazed how much fun you and your child will have with a little creativity and goofing around.


3. Get them giggling - This is perhaps the best litmus test of them all with young children, assuming they giggle (yes, some are naturally serious and don`t). Get them laughing on the way to the courts, keep them laughing on the courts, and have fun on the way home. Who knows? You might start laughing along yourself and having a better time as well.


4. Left-right balance - By the time a child is about five years old, he or she has started recognizing their dominances, right or left-handed, footed, and dominant eye. Our goal in mentioning this point is not to have you think about changing anything your child is doing; however, you should do some exercises with your child with their non-dominant side to help balance out their coordination. An example would be to have them try running to balls to their right by starting with their right foot, and moving to their left by starting with the left one.


5. Develop skills for all sports - This may sound heretical, but many children will play other sports than tennis. In fact, some may even like a different sport more. Just pray that they don`t fall in love with bungee jumping as a focal point in their lives. Even avid bungee jumpers would have to admit that tennis is a safer lifelong activity. When working with your young children, vary the activities to include skill-building that will assist them in many other sports. An example is using agility ladders, as pictured with this article. Agility or footwork ladders can significantly help children develop multiple sport agility and balance skills while having fun.


6. Adaptive tools - In order to achieve the following point of "success at every step," you will need to use adaptive tools according to the age and skill level of your child. Whether it be starting with a Hand Racquet as pictured with this article, or using slower bouncing or foam balls, or a combination of both, depends on the child and how they respond. Just set your sights on using different tools to give your child a feeling of success.


7. Success at every step - Besides fun, remember that your young child is probably not going to feel natural on a tennis court. It takes time to develop the skills needed to feel successful playing a set of tennis. In the meantime, make sure your child experiences far more successes than failures. I like to call this a positive "success to failure" ratio. If they leave the practice session with considerably more success than when they arrived, you`ll get them eager to come back for more.

The tips in this article are intended to help make tennis the main sport for your entire family. But, just remember to go beyond the actual strokes of tennis if you want to really help your beginning child. The keys are to make it fun and build your child`s self-esteem at the same time. If you can accomplish both of these critical goals, you`ll have a lifetime of pleasure to look forward to with your children. And, as the song goes, "Who could ask for anything more?"

About LifeTips

Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make-it-all happen.

Not finding the advice and tips you need on this Tennis Tip Site? Request a Tip Now!


Guru Spotlight
Phyllis Serbes