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Developing Volley Skills for ½ Court Players (5-7 Year Olds)

Wayne Elderton

We are currently in a series about developing 5-7 year old players using balls and courts scaled down to the size of children (Called Progressive Tennis in Canada).

In our first few installments, we saw that the key for starter players is to learn to rally with “Bronze” level skills. We then took it a step further to the ‘Silver’ level which is split into 4 Skill Blocks:

• Groundstroke Development
• Net Play Development
• Serve and Return Development
• Tactical Decision Making

In our last installment, we looked at Block #1: Silver groundstroke development, where players increase their ability to control the direction and trajectory of the ball.

We will now look at Block #2: Net Play Development. One of the great benefits of playing on a smaller court is that net coverage is possible. What player in their right mind who is under 5 feet tall would engage in net play on a regulation size court?

On smaller courts proportioned to the size of the child, players are able to approach and cover the net effectively. The goal of Progressive Tennis is to develop an all-court game. Players need the skills to do everything so, when they are older, they can choose the game style that suits them best. Someone who is a baseliner because, "they can’t volley", has had their choice made for them rather than choosing the best out of a number of good possibilities.

Traditionally, volleys are taught in a series of steps (Prepare, step, punch). For 5-7 year old children, a typical scene would be a child at the net holding the racquet (like a stop sign) and the coach basically hitting the racquet with a feed. This is probably the least effective way I have found for players to learn volleying.

Volleys are best molded from a “catching” action. When coaches describe good net players, they always use terms like, "They have soft hands,” or, “They have good feel.” This quality of absorbing the ball needs to be started early. This process is more effective than starting with a punch or block action.

Rather than teaching a rigid series of movements, it is far more effective to start volley development by tapping the ball (a balloon or beach ball can be an initial progression to make it easier) softly up on the strings, many key aspects of volleys are initiated with this activity:

• Gaining experience with a continental grip (alternating which face of the racquet taps the ball up helps maintain a continental grip)
• Gaining "soft hands" by feeling and controlling the ball on the strings
• Experiencing different contact heights

In other words, the volley is "shaped" rather than "chained" together. The kids in our video clip are actual Silver level players so they are still working towards these skills.

For the next drill, we will use the "Tactical Grid" introduced in pervious articles. This allows coaches to systematically plan and implement various pattern training. The grid for the Silver level has four areas per side.

Players can feed to a partner to practice volley skills. The benefit is that it empowers players to practice with each other. They also can practice tracking, catching, and throwing skills when they are the feeder. The volleyer directs the ball left and right (crosscourt volleys). They can also start pattern training by mixing in down-the-lines with crosscourts.

The final step is to have a volleyer maintain an exchange with a groundstroker from a short distance. As the players improve, the distance will increase by having the groundstroker rally from the ½ Court baseline.

This drill provides the volleyer with more variation they must adapt to. Eventually, this will develop into a standard warm-up drill (like all professionals use before a match).

As we mentioned in previous articles, 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 far faster than if they are fed from a basket.

Technical Foundations

We can use the same five technical fundamentals introduced in the Bronze level to mold volley skills:

• Grip: For volleys, the continental grip is recommended. This allows players to deal with shots on both sides and at various heights without having to make grip changes under pressure (things happen quicker when at net). It also allows for development of backspin actions which helps players to do more with the ball (angles, drops, etc.). Players also need a laid-back wrist in this grip to be able to "absorb" and control the ball.

• Impact Point: Ideally, the volley impact should be out front (too far in front is just as ineffective as too late), a comfortable distance from the body, and at chest level. This is the goal, however, the key to success at the net is adaptability. Players will need to eventually handle lower, wider, and higher balls.

• Set-up: To achieve the ideal impact, a player must move quickly and organize his body around the shot while maintaining balance. A simple and compact set-up is recommended. Players should open the wrist (lay it back) with a body turn. This would be in contrast to taking the racquet back with the shoulder. A good goal for the timing of the set-up is to be prepared before the ball crosses the net.

• Hitting Zone: Volleys need a short but solid hitting zone (the distance the racquet travels towards the net while facing the intended target). If the racquet changes angles constantly (like when it is swung at the ball), direction control becomes very difficult. Being able to control direction (e.g. an angled volley), is critical to be effective at net.

• Recovery: For volleys, there is less time to recover than with groundstrokes. Players must learn to snap back into position before the opponent receives the ball. A split-step before and after volleys is a great habit to train as well.

A coach should look for soft hands (e.g. intervene when players are too tense or they swing with their arms). Poor technique will hinder a player’s ability to perform net 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.

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Wayne Elderton's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.

Wayne Elderton

Wayne is head of Tennis Canada Coaching Development & Certification in British Columbia. He is a certified Canadian national level 4 coache as well as being certified by both the PTR and USPTA. For two consecutive years he was runner-up for Canadian national development coach-of-the-year out of nominated coaches from every sport. Wayne has also been selected as Tennis BC High Performance Coach-of-the-year and was the 2007 Canadian Tennis Professionals Association Coaching Educator of the year.

Wayne is currently Tennis Director at the Grant Connell Tennis Center in North Vancouver. He has written coaching articles and materials for Tennis Canada, the PTR, Tennis Coaches Australia,Tennis Corporation of America and the ITF. He is an international expert on the Game-based Approach.

For more resources, you can visit Wayne Elderton's website at www.acecoach.com

New Progressive Tennis DVD

Wayne Elderton and coach/videographer Neil parker have just completed a new DVD for Tennis Canada on ½ Court Tennis for 5-7 year olds. It contains some of the most up to date methodology found world-wide. The clips in this article are taken from that DVD. It is available on Wayne Elderton’s website: www.acecoach.com.