The Tennis Whizz Program Six key elements combine to create the foundation of every Tennis Whizz on court session, ensuring that children develop mor
The Tennis Whizz Program
Six key elements combine to create the foundation of every Tennis Whizz on court session, ensuring that children develop more than just tennis skills. These elements combine seamlessly to give a child not just a complete understanding of the game of tennis but also a complete range of athletic skills that will help them move to active participation in any sport or physical activity.
It may seem obvious but tennis is about keeping a ball in a given space, the court. They need to learn to make the ball go over nets and barriers, changing ball height and understanding in and out. They also develop a key principle called Orientation which is based on the understanding of where a child is in a given space.By changing this space and helping children to become aware of it we create a variety of different movements and experiences. Tennis starts with understanding space.
Once a child understands space they start to move and control objecting in this space. In tennis this is usually a ball and racquet but could also be a variety of other equipment that we use, including different balls, balloons and scarves. Children learn to control objects by:
Sending - including rolling, pushing, throwing and hitting
Finding – including catching, bouncing, kicking, stopping and trapping
Handling – including holding and carrying
Children learn about the existence of others, learning to cooperate, play and compete. This aids motivation, as children look to others for praise and feedback during tasks. Children also need to develop key social skills, factored into Tennis Whizz lessons to help develop as little people including:
Working Together – including cooperating and sharing
Social Awareness - including caring, listening and helping
Application Skills – including trying, improving and achieving
Tennis Whizz sessions aren’t just about tennis. We understand that children in this age group need help with their ‘Set for School’ skills. So we have woven a series of skills and experiences into every lesson to help them get a head start including:
Literacy – including letter sounds, new words, rhymes, questions
Scoring – including numeracy, patterning, sorting, counting, left and right
Set4School Skills – including memory, imagination, focus, problem solving, listening, watching and copying
Through the Tennis Whizz Program children learn to control their bodies. In tennis we refer to these fundamental movements as technique, but at this young age the models learned will form the foundation of all athletic skills that transfer both into tennis and other sports. Among these skills are:
Body Awareness – including coordination, and relationship between body parts
Balance – including controlling posture, laterality, starting and stopping
Body Rotation – at the heart of tennis with thousands of rotations in every match including twisting, bending and
Although tennis is often taught with children standing and hitting from static position it is a very dynamic sport. Children at a young age benefit from as many movement experiences as possible. These movements are then later modified into specific movements that are used in tennis but also transfer perfectly into other sports. Simple movements based on using body parts together including:
Arm Movements – including swinging and flapping
Travelling Movements – including running, jumping, hopping and skipping.
