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TennisOne Lessons
Developing Groundstroke Skills for ½ Court (5-7 Year Old) Players Wayne Elderton We are currently in a series about developing 5-7 year old players using balls and court size scaled for the size of the children. In our first few installments, we saw that the key for starter players is to learn to rally. Once a player can exchange the ball, the whole world of tennis opens up to them. This is commonly referred to as, "getting a player over the hump." Rallying is the first challenge beginning players need to overcome. For future tennis succes, however, it is not just a matter of bumping the ball back and forth any old way. As a player is learning to rally, the technical and tactical foundation needs to be laid as well. To identify the elements required for a strong foundation, we systemized them into three skill blocks (seen on the diagram below).
These blocks, developed properly, gave all the skills required to take a starter player up to the point of rallying with a partner on the ½ Court. In the Canadian Progressive Tennis system, this is the Bronze level. Now that we have our players up to this level, we need to continue their development. We now look at what is required for the Silver level. In this level, we will have 4 main development blocks:
Developing Consistency and Accuracy Once a player can rally on the ½ court, we need to further outline groundstroke development. To help in this process, we split the court into a "Tactical Grid." This allows coaches to systematically plan and implement various pattern training. The grid for the Silver level has four areas per side. Our first tactic (introduced in the Bronze level) is to keep the ball in play. To help develop consistency and accuracy, it is important that players learn to train cooperatively. We have constantly observed that, by working with each other, players improve their ability to rally far faster than if they are fed from a basket.
The first step of the Silver level is to rally to each other in a narrow corridor (grid areas “C” to “D” on the other end). Hitting straight builds into future down-the-line skills. Of course tennis is a game of geometry and movement (dominating space) so the next step is to begin to build the skills required for a crosscourt exchange. This is the foundation to construct most baseline points in tennis. Both forehand and backhand crosscourt exchanges need to be trained. Don’t worry about lefties or righties. Since you will eventually get to both sides anyway, it is fine for lefties to train the backhand while the righties use their forehands. Training a crosscourt exchange has two phases to it. The reception phase (all the player must do to judge the oncoming ball, move to the area, and set-up for an effective impact) and the projection phase (the stance, swing, and recovery of the shot.). It takes weeks for players to understand the nuances of the crosscourt rally. This is also the opportunity to introduce expanded footwork skills when moving to the ball and recovering. Just watch any junior tournament and you will see players who break down significantly when moved just a few steps, and who constantly play down the middle. Wouldn’t it be great if this were all sorted out before they were 10 years old! Controlling the Height of the Ball
The next step is to help players understand that tennis is a game not only of dominating space, but of dominating time as well. Controlling the height of the ball affects the time of the rally. A player can gain time by arcing the ball higher, and take time away by leveling out the trajectory. Players practice changing the technique required to perform these tactics. Higher arcs require more open racquet faces and increased low to high swing paths (and a preparation that allows the racquet to drop below the intended impact point). Level shots require more vertical racquet faces and level swing paths (and the appropriate preparation to allow that). Combining Time and Space Elements The final step is to combine the time and space elements and have players perform basic tennis tactics. Playing to an opponent’s backhand can combine the elements of hitting crosscourts and down-the-lines. Players must also learn to be accurate while being moved side to side. As players find themselves in difficulty, they can gain time by arcing the ball more. Conversely, if players see an opening, they may elect to level the ball and drive it more.
At the risk of being too repetitive, the goal in all this groundstroke development is to have players be able to maintain a consistent rally and dominate space and time in order to break down an opponent’s rally. This is the tactical foundation of successful baseline play in tennis. Technical Foundations Technically, many elements must be trained for tennis. Just to make a simpler process, we have prioritized five fundamentals that a coach must relentlessly maintain while the players are training in these tactical drills:
Overall, the action for groundstrokes is a full-body swing from the ground-up. When everything is not coordinated, this movement breaks down and doesn’t flow. A coach should look for a fluid motion (e.g. intervene when players are just swinging with their arms). Tactics are what a player does in order to gain points (or lose less). This is critical to play the game of tennis however, technique is how a player performs those tactics. Poor technique will hinder a player’s ability to perform the tactics consistently or at higher levels. Conclusion Developing 5-7 years olds in a Progressive Tennis format is recommended by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Their world-wide Play & Stay initiative (and the USTA Quick Start Initiative in the US) will help more players get better faster. Many coaches have commented that, although we are advocating all these things for 5-7 year olds, these are great principles to apply to their high school and older players as well. Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Wayne Elderton's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.
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Wayne Elderton