It used to be that tennis was only for the 10 and up set since it takes a lot of coordination to hit a fast, bouncy ball with a little racquet. Sure the racquet heads got bigger in the 70s, and the handles were made shorter for kids, but still there was that ball.....

Times have changed and while Wake County has seen an explosion in adult tennis, kids five and younger are also able to get in on the action now thanks to QuickStart Tennis, a USTA innovation. Because QuickStart is played on a smaller court and with a ball that’s less bouncy, it allows children to play sooner.

Brian Rosenthal of RDUTennis tells us that the QuickStart concept and the attention it’s getting has put many of his classes and camps for this age group near capacity. RDUTennis teaches kids as young as four as well as adults. Do all kids and adults start with QuickStart? “No,” says Brian, “We use it for kids 11 and under, and mainly at our larger facilities – so probably 40% of our 30+ locations use QuickStart.”

Patrick Henson, Junior Tennis Coordinator for the Town of Cary’s Cary Tennis Center, echoes this. They brought a QuickStart tennis court set up at the Active Alex Expo in Cary Towne Center and had no shortage of players. “The kids are very interested in tennis,” says Patrick. The Cary Tennis Center offers USTA programs for Tots (5 and under), Futures and Challengers – ages 10 and under use the QuickStart format.

Tennis is one of those lifetime sports as is evidenced by year-round USTA Adult Leagues and the flood of tennis skirts in our area. But whereas many of these current athletes discovered tennis as an adult, our children don’t have to wait to play. Here are some tips to get your child going:

Equipment: A racquet, balls and tennis shoes are the obvious. Brian tells us, “We supply the balls for class but you’ll want to get low compression balls for practice or even the foam balls for the younger kids.” Any shoes work to begin. The point is to get out there and enjoy it. As for racquets, Brian recommends the following sizes of junior racquets:

Ages 4-6: 17-21”

Ages 7-8: 23”

Ages 9-10: 25”

Ages 11-12: 26”

Play It Again Sports has a wide variety of tennis racquets at great prices right now but stores like Wal-Mart, Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods have them year-round as well.

How to Get Started “Lessons,” says Patrick. “While it’s important to have good play and practice time, bad habits and incorrect form develop without proper instruction.”

What’s The Key “Practice,” says Brian. “Camps are a great choice to teach tennis and allow them time to play and really get up and running in tennis.” From here, Brian tells Active Alex, they are more likely to play on their own and then make even better use of lessons and camps for improvement.

What Can Kids Do On Their Own Again, practice. Going up to a court with a parent or friends, bouncing the ball on the racquet – anything to become familiar with the behavior of the racquet and the ball is helpful. “Even playing in the street with a QuickStart ball and no net is good practice,” Brian tells us.

Spring is the perfect time to learn tennis and then use summer to play and improve. Take in the French Open (May), Wimbledon (June) and the US Open (August) on TV – they offer great matches to show our future Rafael Nadals or Serena Williams’ how the game is played. And it’s hard to resist the urge to play after watching it.

For information on lessons and camps in our area, check out Tennis under Active Alex's Sports & Activities.


Next Article >>