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Tennis Ball Feeding to Young Kids: A Guide for Parents

Tennis Ball Feeding to Young Kids: A Guide for Parents

by | Tennis Coaching | 2 comments

Teaching your children to play tennis can be a rewarding experience, but it’s essential to know the right techniques, especially when it comes to tennis ball feeding to young kids. This guide will help you understand how to properly toss the ball and choose the right equipment for your little ones.

🎾 The Importance of Proper Ball Tossing

Many parents often toss the ball overhand, which can cause it to bounce too high. This results in kids making contact with the ball at shoulder level or higher, which is not ideal.
Instead, you should toss the ball underhand. This method allows it to bounce lower, enabling your child to make contact at waist level.

🎾 Choosing the Right Tennis Balls

The type of tennis ball used is equally important. For children around nine years old, a ball with a green dot is suitable. For younger kids (about seven or eight years old), you might consider using orange balls. If your child is even younger, opt for sponge balls, which are oversized, softer, and slower.
Using the right techniques and equipment will make learning tennis more enjoyable for your kids. For a comprehensive course on how to teach children tennis, check out My Daddy My Coach.
With the right approach, your children will develop a love for tennis that lasts a lifetime.
Happy coaching!

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Ready to improve your tennis further?
Let’s get started!

How I Decided to Teach My Children to Play Tennis

How I Decided to Teach My Children to Play Tennis

by | Tennis Coaching | 0 comments

When I decided to teach tennis to my children, it was likely one of the most exciting and “scary” choices I’d ever made.

I wanted to introduce them to a sport they might love and enjoy for the rest of their lives.

It all began when my wife and I realized that no one would ever be as passionate about teaching our children as we, the parents, would be.

At that time, I had been a tennis player for many years and a newly certified, enthusiastic coach. I began taking my two daughters, then aged 4 and 5 respectively, onto the court to show them some fun hand-eye coordination tennis drills that kids seem to love.

In the beginning, it was all about fun games: hitting the (sponge) ball over the net and counting how many times they could do it, catching and throwing, chasing each other around the court – everything to make them excited and happy to get back on the court the next day. 

Technique didn’t matter. As long as they enjoyed being on the court with me and hitting balls, it was all good.

My goal was to get them to enjoy tennis or at least the idea of hitting a ball with a racquet. I did accomplish that: my daughters were happy and had fun chasing the balls.

But the coach in me wanted to see them begin working on proper technique and view tennis as a game that requires a specific way to hit the ball, learn how to play points, and eventually develop a competitive spirit while improving their new skills.

That’s why I decided to get my two daughters involved in group lessons so they could see other kids playing and enjoying tennis. They would eventually learn by observing the kids around them focusing and practicing proper technique and footwork.

It was a great idea that helped me transition them towards hitting the ball with a focus on the technical elements.

As a result, my daughters realized (by observing other kids in their group classes) that striking the ball should be done in a certain way, and that technique and footwork were important.

Eventually, as I began working with my daughters on the mechanics and incorporating fun competitive games, another good idea came to mind:

I decided to share our lessons with parents and tennis coaches who would also be interested in teaching their children and learning how to do it following a well-organized method. 

This is how the My Daddy / My Coach video series was born.

I wanted to show all interested coaches and tennis parents how I introduced my daughters to tennis, from ages 5-6 until their competitive junior years, 12-13. 

In this program, I share the technical aspects I taught my daughters, the games and drills we played, and any other tips that my experience as a coach at the time allowed me to teach not only my children but also anyone who wanted to learn as well.

Now, my two daughters are teenagers and, in addition to their love for tennis, they enjoy other sports as well.

But my greatest personal achievement was introducing and teaching my children a sport that I know they will appreciate for the rest of their lives.

And they will tell everyone that “my daddy was also my tennis coach”.

Help your child develop essential tennis skills while having fun. Join My Daddy / My Coach and watch your child’s game improve!

 

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Question From Tennis Parent

Question From Tennis Parent

by | Tennis Coaching | 0 comments

I recently had a conversation with a tennis parent, who is helping his 10-year-old son to develop his game.

After taking lessons for a couple of years, he noticed that his son tends to hit a lot of the balls back to his opponent, and the father asked me ‘How to guide him to place the ball better?’

Here are the answer and tips I gave him:

“This is a common problem with (young) players who are used to doing a lot of drills and very few matches: they are used to hitting the ball back to a partner or coach.

On the other hand, players who grow up with a game-based approach are better at tactically placing the balls.

There are certain drills you can do with your son. For example:

  1. You stand on one side and have him hit two balls back to you, the third one away from you (put it away).
  2. Play a set (or a few games) where he will lose the point if he hits the ball back to you (which means you would have to make at least two steps to get to the ball).
  3. Feed balls to him from the basket while you stand in the middle of the court (just behind the service line center); after each feed, stretch your racket or arms to the side and you should not be able to touch (without moving) the balls sent by him. He gets a point if he can pass the ball without you touching it, otherwise, you get a point. Play first to win 10 points.

The bottom line is that, in my opinion, your son got used to drills where he had to hit the ball back to the coach/partner. Do drills where he aims to targets or any area away from the coach or parent.”

Do you agree with the tips I gave this tennis parent? Do you have any extra suggestions to improve somebody’s ball placement and creativity when it comes to playing?

Let me know in the comment box below.

Want to learn the secrets of effective tennis coaching? Enroll into 10 Lesson Plans / How to Teach Tennis and discover how to inspire and teach your students!

 

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How I Learned the One-Handed Backhand… And You Can Too

How I Learned the One-Handed Backhand… And You Can Too

by | Tennis Coaching, Tennis Training | 2 comments

The following is a personal story of when I decided to switch from a two-handed to a one-handed backhand.

But first, I want to take you back to the time I started to play tennis (at the age of 12)…

I was a skinny boy with weak wrists and forearms. 

I barely had any control of my forehand, but my two-handed backhand was the main shot that I could rely on even when playing against older and more powerful players.

For many years, I had trusted the backhand more than any other tennis shot.

Later on, with the help of my father, who was willing to feed balls to me from the basket, I began to develop the forehand in order to catch up with my strong two-handed backhand.

My father would feed hundreds of balls every day to my forehand until I started feeling equally confident on both sides.

But then…

Years later, when I became a tennis coach, I realized that I needed to hold a few tennis balls in my non-dominant hand as I was rallying with my students, and so I decided to…

…”teach” myself the one-handed backhand… with which I fell in love from the first day.

It was not hard because I followed a series of progression drills that really helped me to understand the point of contact, the body balance (which is different than that of the two-handed backhand), and, of course, through a lot of repetition, I developed the timing necessary to hit the ball early.

The progression drills that I followed to learn the one-handed backhand are the same I use now to teach many students all the tennis strokes. 

And I put them all inside the WebTennis24 program which you can have full access to:

ULTIMATE TRAINING FOR TENNIS PLAYERS – learn and master the one-handed and two-handed backhand groundstrokes, and more

Tennis is easy if you break it down into small tasks and put in the time to practice them.

Have fun learning or teaching this sport!

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Why I Decided to Teach My Daughters Tennis

Why I Decided to Teach My Daughters Tennis

by | Tennis Coaching | 0 comments

Do you consider that every tennis coach has a duty to introduce their children to tennis? Even if only to teach them the basics so they can enjoy it later with their friends?

These were questions I was asking myself as my baby daughters were turning 4 and 5 years old. 

Many days and nights had I thought about it: what if they didn’t like tennis? Is there a social expectation from a tennis coach to have his children pick up the sport he likes so much? 

I was young and did not have answers to those questions…

One of the biggest thoughts that I could not shake off was the one that eventually made me decide to take this step and introduce my daughters to tennis:

“Would I forgive myself after 20-30 years if I did not teach them to play tennis?”

No, I would not. 

And this is how I got my daughters started with this sport. 

There is more to this story, but I have to keep it short – 

My daughters began with group classes so they could see other kids enjoying tennis, and only after they got a taste of this sport, they asked me to be their coach. 

It was not easy because my daughters have strong personalities. And they “knew better than me” how to hit the ball and would not accept anybody telling them how to do it. 

Even though their father was a tennis coach…
They knew tennis better than I. 🙂

Teaching your kids is not an easy task, but it would give a parent great satisfaction seeing them grow in the sport, become competitive, and learn to work hard to develop their skills… not to mention the hours you spend with them on the court is just… priceless.

So yes, I did manage to teach my two daughters to play tennis and we did this process together for 9 years. 

Best part?

Occasionally, my wife would record some of their lessons. 

If you want to see how I did it, and learn the techniques, the games, and the ways I interacted with my daughters on the tennis court, you can watch the whole 9-year process in this WebTennis24 section called My Daddy / My Coach.

Was it easy, or was it hard? 

It does not matter. 

The time I spent with them on the court during all those years is just precious. 

If you are teaching your children or intend to do it soon, I am here for you. 

I’ve done it, so I know what you will be going through. 

Spend quality time with your child while teaching them a valuable sport. Enroll today in My Daddy / My Coach program!

 

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Serve Problem. Here’s How I Fixed It…

Serve Problem. Here’s How I Fixed It…

by | Tennis Coaching, Tennis Training | 0 comments

Here’s how I fixed the serve problem of one of my students.

This particular lady used to take lessons with me a couple of years ago.
She called me on a Wednesday afternoon saying that she was lacking consistency and did not know what was the problem with her serve.

We met the next morning after my usual 8:30-9:30 am class, and after she warmed up, I made a few steps away and looked at her while she was delivering most of her serves long, just a foot beyond the service line. Over and over…

I soon noticed the problem:
She was releasing the ball very early and then lowering the tossing arm right away.
This caused a loss in balance and low contact with the ball.

So here’s what I did to fix her serve consistency within a few minutes…

I asked her to continue serving focusing on one thing only: keeping the tossing arm up and extended towards the sky after releasing the ball until she sees it coming down.
She got her balance back and made contact a lot higher.
The result: more power and… more serves landing inside the service box.

There are a few technical elements that players need to be aware of in order to deliver the serve with consistency and power. These elements can make a big difference in someone’s game.

If you are a tennis coach or a parent of a child who wants to learn how to play tennis, you should definitely check out the My Daddy / My Coach and the 10 Lesson Plans / How to Teach Tennis program.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.
The No. 1 Reason Children QUIT Tennis

The No. 1 Reason Children QUIT Tennis

by | Tennis Coaching | 0 comments

(This article is intended for coaches and tennis parents who teach children or beginning players. If you are not interested in this topic, please share it with a coach or tennis parent who might find it useful. Thank you!)

The year was 2004 when I got a job working as an assistant tennis coach for a city program in Southern California.
The pay was very low but I considered it an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a tennis coach.
At that time I was in my 20s, barely spoke English, and I was trying to learn as much as I could to improve my teaching skills.

The “city” was organizing beginner classes and my boss and I were greeting these big crowds of enthusiastic kids who were coming with their parents to learn how to play tennis.
My boss, at that time, was an elderly lady who was kind to the kids but did not have too much knowledge about helping beginning players fall in love with the sport.
She would stress discipline and technique way too much to the point that most players were staying in lines waiting for their turn to hit a ball… once in a while.

As a result, we could see that even though those parents were paying for the lessons 6 weeks in advance, many children quit their classes after the first couple of lessons.
By the end of the 6-week session, we were left with barely 30% of the kids who initially signed up for the classes!

Those 2 years that I’d been working for the “city” taught me a VALUABLE lesson:

PEOPLE PLAY TENNIS BECAUSE THEY ENJOY IT.

And they quit if they don’t.

It’s just that simple…

Now, I have to say that during those 2 years of working for the “city” I did not let things continue as they initially were.

Here’s what I did:

  1. I talked to my boss and convinced her to “rotate” the children so that they learn from both of us (with respect to the other’s teaching methodology). In this way, the kids would get to learn and improve with tips from both of us.
  2. We agreed that we should find ways to limit waiting in line by introducing fast-paced drills.
  3. The technical aspects were discussed and practiced at the beginning and reminded throughout the lessons to make sure that while we were teaching those who struggled, we kept the others busy so that nobody was left wandering on the court.
  4. Every lesson should have at least two periods of fun activities that kids would enjoy:
    – one in the middle of the class to take their minds away from the technical and repetitive tasks, and also to bring some excitement after all the previous work;
    – another one at the end of the class (last 10 minutes) to allow the kids to leave their classes happy and “loud” so that they have something to look forward to after all the work they put in during the class; their parents would see that kids were having fun at tennis practice before picking them up.

This statement has been my motto for the rest of my tennis teaching career:

MAKE TENNIS LESSONS FUN AND KIDS WILL KEEP COMING TO PRACTICE.

You might be wondering how can you find drills and games that keep kids interested and excited about practicing their skills.
Well, there are two main ways:

  1. You can search YouTube or the internet and eventually you’ll make a list of drills and games that you can apply with your students. But that takes a lot of your time which you probably would be the best spending with your family or working on more exciting projects.
  2. You can sign up for programs such as Best Tennis Drills and Games for Kids which is a collection of drills that I’ve applied with my students during my over 20 years of teaching thousands of beginning tennis players, kids and adults.

I’ve learned what works and what not, what gets beginning players excited, and what kind of drills improve their speed, body control, shot accuracy, and consistency.

You can do your own research or just keep things simple and take what others have worked for and know it works.

This is why I created this program for you – to take my proven drills and games that are guaranteed to be loved by your beginning players.

Get access to Best Tennis Drills and Games for Kids today and make tennis lessons fun for your beginning students!

 

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.