The eldest’s interest in tennis came from a passionate instructor’s age-appropriate first lesson. Balloons, beanbags and games of hockey made the whole thing a good time. The LaJolla Beach and Tennis Club is host to “Nelson.” If you’re ever in the area. Stay at the Shores Hotel, or the Club and request a 30 minute lesson for you or your kid(s) with Nelson.
I bought 12 of these bad larrys. In case you didn’t know the USTA has adopted a more age-appropriate training methodology for U10 tennis. The idea being that full court, full speed tennis is completely un-accesible to small kids (so true) and if you can build love of a game through early success with a mini-sized slower version of the adult game, the US may be able to produce more internationally competitive players. This new approach is called Quick Start Tennis.
So. I’m game. If my goal is to inspire my first born to love a sport, I agree whole heartedly that he should be able to actually play a game. And so the balls.
His younger brother, he and I went out to a black top with the 12 slow big versions of tennis balls. We tried to hit them against a wall. We chased them around. We played ready-aim-fire –Taught to me by Coach Shannon from the SF Tennis Club–where you place a ball on the ground and to the front of the player. The stand in ready position when you say ‘ready.’ They move one foot forward and face the ball on ‘aim.’ Then they swipe the ball (still on the ground) toward a forward target on ‘fire.’ Lesson being that you need to hit a ball out in front of the body (and of course the general stances used in a fore or back hand.) And then we played a game of my own invention. I tossed each child 12 balls in rapid succesion (allowing for a reset in between), each received 1 point for making contact (a huge achievement especially for the younger one), 2 points for hitting the wall behind me, and 10 points if they got it in the area demarcated by two hula-hoops a each of my sides.
Big win for slow balls, a little competition and reasonable expectations!
The 4.5 year old was cackling with glee each time he hit the ball at all. The 7 year was intently keeping score and challenging himself with the targets. Happy kids who felt the joy of success and gained a little coordination.
So we put him-who-is-six in tennis camp. He had expressed a monocum more interest in tennis than in any other sporting endevour so why not give it a go? After the second day the coach askeds me if he’s spoken to me about his time at camp–with a pained look on her face. She went on to explain that he’d been sitting or laying on the ground durring some (most?) of the drills and games they’ve been playing.
So what are we to do about it? Several scenarios could be at play:
We decided we’d focus on 2 and see where that got us. Put plan ‘carrot’ into play. If he participates full and seems engaged, his coaches will tell us at the end of the day and he earns an ice cream. This incentive totally seemed to work. His coaches tell me he was much more engaged and much more into it the remainder of the week.
So where does that leave us.
Back at my first post. He had no incentive built in. There was nothing attractive about trying hard, getting better. Not even enough pay out for chasing the ball playing with a racket. (Fully enough for me as a kid.)
So we’re going to initiate plan ‘watch sports.’ Starting this weekend with the Women’s Cup Final. And having at least 15 – 30 minutes a week dedicated to seeing (either live or on tv) some high level sport.
Will it kindle interest?