Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts

Monday, February 3, 2014

Tennis Checkers

Thanks Martyn Collins for tipping me to this site. Lots of fun game ideas here. They call this game Ultimate Sponge Ball so look for that title if you want to see the original instructions. Looking at the game diagram I am reminded of the game of checkers, so pardon my name change. I am a little unclear on a couple of the rules so I am clarifying them on the fly here. Best with groups, good for warm-up.

Divide group into two even teams. If you are playing this on the tennis court, perfect - each time stakes out one end of court. Object of the game is to be the first team to move the ball behind other team's baseline.

  • Ball can only be moved by throwing/catching. Players may not run, walk, or otherwise move with the ball. Players who do not have the ball may change positions including moving around net to opponent's end of court when on offense and taking up defensive positions when not.
  • Defending team may not move to interfere with a thrown ball - no batting out of the air, jumping up and down, etc. Defender must remain one arm's length plus one racquet length away from opponents. Note this is approximate distance one should be from ball at point of contact.
  • Dropped ball or ball thrown out of bounds results in a change of possession. Original game did not say where change of possession should take place, so I am arbitrarily saying baseline of other team.

Here's how I envision this game working: game commences with one player tossing a ball to another teammate to advance the ball toward the opponent's baseline. All players are able to change positions except the person who has the ball. So let's say Player A has the ball. She waits until one of her teammates is ready (Player B), then throws it to them. Player B now must decide which teammate to throw the ball to, standing in place and waiting until her teammates have rearranged themselves and are ready to receive the ball. In the meantime, the defending team can also move around relative to the offense's movements as long as they stay appropriate distance from any player. Defense can play zone or man-to-man, whichever they think will be most effective. So this game should be very dynamic and have kids moving around constantly to either advance or defend their positions.

First team to 7 wins, best two out of three.

If this is too difficult, allow one bounce or use a bigger ball.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Help Parents Help You

During Anne Pankhurst's session on 'Helping Parents Help Their Kids in Tennis', she reported an interesting statistic:

96% of tennis parents have never had a child in tennis
80% of tennis parents have never played tennis themselves

Whaaaaaaat????? With USTA membership topping 700,000, and 300,000 high school tennis players nationwide, I found this info surprising, to say the least. But if Anne Pankhurst said it, it must be true. Which brings us to the point of her presentation: with so many parents new to the game, we as coaches need to be mindful of this. They probably have lots of questions not only about their child's instruction, but very basic questions about the game itself. 

According to Anne, some of the top questions new tennis parents have are:
  • How to select a tennis coach
  • Recommended frequency of lessons
  • How to define success

I have a few more that I am often asked:
  • What to expect from the tournament experience
  • What is the proper way to fuel a player during a tournament
  • What gear is recommended/required
  • How best to help my player between lessons
  • What is proper match behavior for fans/parents - coaching, cheering, other points of tennis etiquette
And I am sure you can add to this list. Anne had a great suggestion for educating the parents: hold a lesson for parents only. Walk them through a sample lesson plan so that they understand what their children will be learning on court. Laramie Gavin of Midwest Athletic Club Rochester NY improved on this idea when he suggested hosting a parent meeting (with adult beverages!) in conjunction with pizza party for the players after a fun match play event. We have just created a Junior Tennis Instruction FAQ which is now printed on the flip side of our program fliers as well as on our Facebook page. Whatever works best for your operation, consider implementing simple and effective ways of keeping communications open with your parents.