Tennis PE 6-week quarter class for Beginners.
Purpose:
To teach the basics of tennis and inspire the students to appreciate the joy of the game and of exercise, to be energized and positive in their play, and to be patient in seeking steady improvement in fundamentals, strokes, strategies, and their increased fitness through the quarter.
To instill in the students a love for competing and the game of tennis.
From day one to learn a good warmup and stretches, to practice grip and eye/hand coordination, to each day review previous lessons and add one more thing to commence working on.
Practice CORRECT footwork and strokes, not just getting the ball back over the net. Being PATIENT in practice, not to rush into playing games before working on strokes. Halfway through the quarter to be playing some games, as incentive to further improvement of technique. Then continuing to build skills, variety of shots, speed, placement on the court, strategy.
Technique: learn forehand (and its variations) grip, backhand grip, Serve grip.
Learn footwork to ball, how to prepare the racket, how to step into the shot, how to minimize steps. Forehand. Backhand. How to serve. Volley.
Scoring: learn scoring and keep score in games.
Strategy: Singles play. Doubles play (which player where, switching after lob). Net play. Baseline, approach shots. Volleys. Overheads.
Drills: star drill in warmup. Hitting drills of getting forehand tosses, backhand tosses, alternating and random tosses. Net shots. Smashes. Making approach shot at coming to net. For doubles dealing with a lob and making switches. Practice alley passing shots.
Mini-tennis in service boxes, ‘push’ shots, cooperative play.
Warmup – easy hitting with partner if arrive early. Loosen up jog, lunges forward and side and 45 degrees, shoulder swings, open/shut arms, side shuffle, leg swings, star drill with racket. Popcorns, Mini-tennis, some serving (once learned).
TENNIS TEACHING PROGRESSION
Outline of Pete Farwell Class rink combo 193 or 7343, lights 94721
Day 1: warm-up routine: jog around 4 courts x 2, skip w/arm swings, side shuffle, lunges forward/sideways/angle, leg swings
Popcorns on racket – up, down
Serve: throw like baseball
shadow serve w/ no ball
grip (continental)
short racket (hold near neck), scratch between shoulders w/ elbow up, start by net
practice ball toss, racket by feet, have ball land on strings
back up gradually from net to half-way to service line, then service line, etc
later (other days) add arms swooping down and back up with racket
Serve – toss practice, body motion, grip.
Swing from racket over back position. Start near neck and gradually move back to baseline
Work to get more wrist action as improve.
Mini-tennis: show semi-western grip (pick up racket like frying pan, further to right than
handshake hammer grip
play with 1 partner across net, within service boxes: 1 ball, no backswing & no wrist
‘push’ ball across, back and forth cooperatively
Day 2: wu/popcorn/toss/serve from ½ to service line, then service line/mini-tennis
Forehand intro: semi-western grip, low to high (over shoulder, back of hand to ear)
to create top spin
hit off front foot, away from body
windshield wipers: coach feed 4 balls to 2 lines (1 right, 1 left) – player takes 4 balls on right, then rotate to left, then when right line done gets 4 balls on left – from baseline, all forehand
Day 3: wu add star drill. popcorn/serve/mini-tennis/forehand:
Footwork, ‘round the base’, get behind the ball
Grip – forehand, backhand, volley
Eye/Hand Coordination – bouncing ball off center of strings a) on ground b) in air
Swing – forehand and backhand (one-hand and two-hand)
Ready position, into pivot on balls of feet while turning shoulders and drawing back racket
Footwork – slide step and lunge into ball
Cues: ‘get behind the ball’, ‘round the base’
Day 4: review forehand, each part of forehand: grip, ready position, pivot and racket back,
racket head perpendicular to ground, low to high as step and shift weight
contact off front foot, back to ready
Footwork: 2 steps to ball, 2 steps to ball, ‘round the base’ and be behind the ball, how to go
back to ball, how to go forward to ball (set feet and lunge to ball, not run through
moving forehands: start on right baseline, get 1 ball there, 2nd near mid, 3rd past
mid, 4th at left, then to next player back on right (coach feeding ball)
Pass the racket game, with line of 4 players each side.
Moving forehands – player slides along baseline left to right after each shot
Day 5: Backhand intro: continental grip, 2-hand, hit off front hip, low to high (ear)
Windshield wipers and moving backhands at service line, then baseline
rally with both strokes for a bit
rehearse serve again
‘Round the World’ game with 2 lines of players (1 each side), take shot and run to opposite side
Each day incorporates warmup rallying and serve practice, reviews preceding lesson(s), introduces new stroke, finishes with some partner hitting (singles or doubles). Continually work on ready position, footwork to get in best position for shot, hustle.
Day 6: backhand review, rally from baseline Topspin and slice shots
Volley – grip, choke up racket at first and gradually move down. Pivot, step and punch.
Partner practice tossing balls
Coach feeds forehand and backhand individually rotating through class
Volley intro: continental grip, pivot and push (no backswing, no wrist), racket face above hand
Progress grip from neck to mid-handle to handle
partner toss first forehands, then back, then either
volley game from sidelines face each other close up, gradually move apart
partner short easy stroke feed to volley
partners volley together softly
pairs play w/ one side back, 1 side net
pairs on each side volley together (both up ½ way from serve line to net)
Day 7: review volley – start w/ short handle, then lengthen – push hit
Reaction volleys: 2 lines, player moves up and gets 4 tosses, reacts to either side
w/ split step, then rotates out – over to other line
2 versus 2 volley game
rally from baseline
2 versus 2 with one team at net, one at baseline
game introduction! rules and scoring, doubles play
Scoring rules
Rotation of server and partner
Rotation of receiving partners
Continuing
Incorporate strategies of approaching net, cross court shots, drop shots, etc.
More games (with scoring), eventually tournament play.
Day 8: moving baseline drill review on forehand and backhand
baseline to volley practice (2 players at net one side, 2 baseline other)
play ‘Offense/Defense’ game
singles play
Lobbing, down the line alley shots (defensive shots that can score points)
Day 9: Doubles and overheads
Day 10: Singles – start mini-tennis, then baseline hitting, then serves and Game
Day 11: King of Court
Day 12: (if in calendar), more game play, finishing with doubles.