Tennis is a great choice for children. Tennis has been found to be one of the most mentally demanding sports that helps to improve grades, concentration and focus as well as helping children to become more independent and handle stress better. If children develop a love for the sport early it will help them be healthier adults.

The SWTF uses the “10 and under” approach to teach tennis. This approach focuses on kids having fun and learning by playing, rather than relying on the old standard of having kids stand in line doing drills (learning) before they were allowed to play a game.

Additionally “10 and Under” includes using modified scoring system, right sized equipment and courts.

Baseball doesn’t start with full-sized bat, it doesn’t make sense to teach this way in tennis. You don’t want to stand on a line and wait to be told what doesn’t look right. That’s why there aren’t a lot of great tennis players.

It is important first and foremost to focus on athletic development and not simply tennis development. We should never forget that athletic development should be fun and focus on agility, balance, coordination and speed. There is a critical window for developing foundations for many aspects of athletic development related to pre- and post-puberty.

We also use the USTA player development model. This development model is based on technical and tactical competencies being taught for each level: Red ball, Orange ball and Green ball.