In this blog I will just look at if from an under 10s point of view. There is various research out there, but generally the critical period to develop a strong base of co-ordination/athleticism is by the age of 9. That means alongside all the other amazing developments kids make in those years, there is 468 weeks to develop a base of the ABCS (agility balance co-ordination speed)! Sounds like a short space of time! But with a solid base in these years, it will have the impact on the rest of their lifetime in being able to shift into new sports with ease, enjoy them socially or to a high level, contribute to good health and even maybe find the next generation of coaches too!
Gymnastics, Dance, Netball, Soccer, Rugby, Tennis, Trampolining!
Nearly every sport involves dynamic movement; the more advanced the more specific it becomes. But, this is the real key point, kids need to learn how to move well, and through hours of enjoyment of sport in clubs and at home, it is mostly an unconscious process. How to speed up and slow down, how to remain balanced, a sense of their surroundings and body positioning. How to change direction quickly. Many of the girls I have worked with over the years who have shown the most promise in tennis, have come from a gymnastics or dance background. Most of the boys come from a soccer or rugby background. Many reading would be able to guess why, but gymnastics and dance allow for great strength, core stability, and an understanding of movement, shapes and change of direction. Also the best gymnasts and dancers are often the ones who are able to understand corrections from coaches. This base of athleticism allows for tennis to be picked up much more quickly as the skill of tennis can be learnt much easier when the understanding of movement is already there.
And for boys, over the years coming from rugby and soccer has time and time again shown explosiveness, ability to change direction and change speed, lightness on the feet. Again the hours doing these sports for your club or in the backyard (v v important!) all contribute to a high level of athleticism. It becomes a lot harder to develop this athletic base in teenage years...
Tennis Specific Skills and Set4Sport
Yes you need a great base of athleticism to play tennis to a high level, but over the years I always ask parents when I see a young player with good skills on court, what things have they done with them? And a lot of the time backyard games are the key to success! These things below have come up again and again!
- Swingball - easy to set up and endless fun, creating games like how many times can you hit it in a row, how many times can you make it spin with one hit before it stops!
- Trampoline Tennis - with one player on the trampoline, mum or dad throws a ball at them and they have to catch it while bouncing, or use a racket to try and hit it back to them. Amazing for balance and loads of ways to adapt it!
- Ball on a Bungee Cord - hitting a ball attached to a block or a tree with bungee cord through it means that it will go in all sorts of directions - endless fun and builds many of the skills already mentioned.
- Two touch tennis (or variations) - games I used to play would be tap up tennis where you score extra points if you get it into the garden court off of the tree or the fence or set up other obstacles the ball has to bounce off or land on like a garden bench or chair!
The good news is all of these skills can be learnt! A fantastic resource for Tiny Tots and backyard sport is www.set4sport.com - this has heaps of interesting games and activities to play with young ones, so for those days where you may be lacking some creativity, this site might give you a great game to get out in the backyard and get the kids active. Some of these exercises are ones we use in Tiny Tots lessons, and they would be adapted/progressed into the Mini Tennis Tribe Red and Orange levels as well. Spend a few minutes checking it out www.set4sport.com
It is a fascinating area and certainly one blog post cannot even begin to cover it in enough detail. But in this stage of technology where children are using iPhones at younger and younger ages, it is important to maintain a balance and encourage them to be outside and active as well!
