Follow the leader (4 min.)

Everybody follows the coaches around the perimeter of the court twice, jogging on the sidelines and doing split steps every four steps on the baselines.

Slow stretches (3 min.)

Have the students count aloud during the following stretches:

• Neck rolls -- roll your head six times to the left and six times to the right
• Swing both arms -- do six rotations to the left and six rotations to the right
• Roll dominant wrist -- do six rotations to the left and six rotations to the right
• Ready, set, stretch -- in starter’s block position, extend the right leg, then the left leg and hold each for six counts
• Windmill toe touches -- alternate touching the right hand to the left foot and the left hand to the right foot for a total of 12 touches

Ball pickup relay (5-10 min.)

Place three racquets equidistant between the relay team and the net -- one racquet on the baseline, one on the service line and one at the net. Place two balls for each child and parent on the racquet at the baseline. Children, or parents and children alternately, take a ball from the racquet at the baseline and run to place it on the first racquet. They return to the baseline to pick up another ball, bring it to the racquet at the net and return to tag the next person in line. The relay can be run in reverse to return all the balls to the baseline.

Shot of the day – volley (5-10 min.)

1. Demonstrate and have children shadow forehands and backhands with tracking footwork, reviewing ready position, shuffling footwork, turn/step/hit sequence, contact point and follow-through.

2. Demonstrate and have the class shadow forehand and backhand volleys, emphasizing ready position and differences in pivot, no backswing, step, contact point, hit (punch) and short follow-through. Show the shot’s resemblance to a "high five"

Volley progression on dangling balls (10-15 min.)

Hang up to five dangling balls on each teaching cable and place spots to correctly position kids. Have children do the sequence with forehand and backhand volleys. In all drills, stress contact point in front of the children as they:

1. Hit a stationary ball steadied by a parent-coach between hits

2. Hit a ball gently swung by a parent-coach, who catches the ball between hits as the child regains ready position

3. Gently hit consecutive balls, using a compact punching motion and quick footwork to regain ready position between each hit

• Good drills for this are "10 Club," "20 Club," "30 Club" and "World Record."

No-net tennis (10 min.)

One-on-one, parent-coaches should stand several feet from the children and toss balls to their forehands and backhands for volleying, stressing the basics of ready position, a pivot with no backswing, step and punch. Children should try to hit directly back to coaches and keep their feet moving.

• Have an instructor and student demonstrate before the class begins play.
• To keep balls from being sprayed around the court, position parent-coaches with their backs to the fences.
• Count consecutive successful hits and find out who set the record.

Volleys in a row (5-10 min.)

All parent-coaches are on one side of the net and the children are on the other. Children move along the net as each coach in succession feeds the child a ball to volley back. It is a good idea to place spots in each volley position. Children volley back to the coaches so the drill is continuous. Other parent-coaches or children can help catch balls behind the feeders. Do this with forehands and backhands.

Practice suggestions:

Parents should practice with their children, and everyone should warm up before playing:

• Bump-up tennis with a partner using a target on the ground
• Bump-up tennis without a bounce, alternating hits with a partner and practicing good volley technique with little swing
• No-net tennis -- move the child from side to side for groundstrokes, stressing ready position and footwork with gentle "bumping" hits