Respected friends, coaches, fans, players...
Please give your valued insights ...
most of this learned from John's website here..
6 year old boy
Forehand..3 angles
Backhand..3 angles
Serve..
Some rally shots at the end..
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Respected friends, coaches, fans, players...
Please give your valued insights ...
most of this learned from John's website here..
6 year old boy
Forehand..3 angles
Backhand..3 angles
Serve..
Some rally shots at the end..Last edited by gokulms; 02-04-2013, 05:20 PM. -
Wow!
Really terrific. Just keep him having fun on the court. It looks to me like those are real balls. It might be beneficial to play a little with the green ball so he gets used to hitting a ball that doesn't bounce above his head all the time.
A couple of points for you, but be careful how you introduce them to him. Just keep him on the path he is already on.
If you are going to develop that open stance forehand, especially one with an almost square-open stance where the right foot is almost closer to the net than the right, at least insist that he places the right foot perpendicular to the intended path of the ball (essentially usually parallel to the net). He actually does that when he moves up and back, but in your isolation shots, he was hitting a lot of balls with the foot at about 60 degrees. If he does that he'll never get the hips and shoulders properly coiled and loaded.
Backhand is nice, but there is the tiniest hint of moving the hands ahead of the racket head in the initial unit turn. I'm a little hypersensitive to this. I like to see the move to either side led, even if ever so slightly, with the head of the racket. Connect the head of the racket to the ball as early as possible. But that might be just me.
In a more general sense, and especially on his backhand, I'd be asking for a little more balance on completion of the stroke. I thought Li Na in the first set of the Aussie final was hitting the backhand about as pure as I thought it was possible to hit it. Completely through it; perfect balance on completion. There must me some recording of it up on youtube. You could also say the same for Murray and Djokovic in their first set. Loved their balance and footwork as they were pounding the ball in the first set.
On the serve, I see the slightest hesitation as he gets up to the trophy position. There's a little delay and this may be contributing to the shallow depth of his power position as the racket head drops down. There might even be a little racket twirling/grip shuffling going on as he approaches that trophy position. Hard to tell without slow motion and a zoom lens. As well as he appears to be absorbing information and motion at this time, he can use a more advanced grip on his serve.
The other point I would make about the service motion is to intricately link the toss and the rock/weight-transfer. He's actually doing it right, but the connection between the toss and the rock is just a bit tenuous. For me, the rock is the lynch pin that holds everything together.
At this point, you want him to just have fun at the net, but as soon as you can do it, get him to use a correct grip for that forehand volley. Right now, just the fact he wants to go up there and meet the ball is great, but he can do much more.
What's his name? I want to look for his results in about 6 or 7 years!
Biggest thing is just have fun. He has real talent, but it's a long way from 6 years old. It's not really that important to be the best 8 year old or even 10 or 12 year old. It's important to develop good fundamental habits and a love for playing the game that translates into a love for doing the all too necessary work. That can't be forced.
good luck,
don -
Great...
Great stuff. It's hard to get this level of correctness with a six-year old. There isn't much more you could ask of the boy.
I agree with much of what tennis_chiro says. He is a little too open stance on his forehand at times. I'd teach the open stance later down the line when he's older. There is no rush to go down the open stance route as there is the necessity at mini tennis age...and it's so easy to pick up later...when it's required.
The lack of a more pronounced throwing action (power position) that tennis_chiro refers to could be simply down to him not being fully comfortable with his continental grip, which results in him trying to straighten the arm a tad to compensate. It's tough for kids to use the correct grip at just six but well worth doing. Here in the UK, we are getting kids (the talented ones) to use the correct grip on their serves and volleys as early as possible. By aged 8 many of them are looking like little pro's in every department of the game.
You could experiment by asking him to relax the grip more towards a mild forehand grip and see if his throwing action suddenly becomes more pronounced. I am not advocating he regress to a forehand grip...just merely for diagnosis.
Here in the UK, with the advent of mini tennis, we are getting kids looking really good at a young age. But many later fall down in the serving department...so it's best to work hard on this one...get it right early and the benefits are great.
What balls are you using in the clip? They don't look like mini tennis balls?
Wonderful work you've done with this kid...absolutely first-class work.Last edited by stotty; 02-05-2013, 05:52 AM.StottyComment
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thnx
wow.. things i would have never figured out or would have an eye to look for.. glad i asked .
thanks Don and Stotty..
to summarize both your inputs:
1. Use Green Dot ball
2. Take it easy on open stance for now or correct it
3. backhand. lead with racquet head on unit turn and more balance during shot execution
4. serve . continental grip. he is uncomfortable with it and prefers almost Tsonga's grip. but will work on this.
5. Serve . rock/weight transfer for a more pronounced trophy position
6. volleys. fix the grip.
I will try to post another video in the next 6-8 months and see how the progress is.
thanks again.Last edited by gokulms; 02-05-2013, 06:36 AM.Comment
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when to transition to full ball
Don and Stotty, when do you think one should transition to full yellow ball. is it age dependent or skill level or physicall development dependent?
In Europe normally how is it done? they call it 10 and Under, but can it be purely age specific?Comment
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How long with the Quick Start balls?
I wish I had a better answer, but I have seen very few kids go through development with the QuickStart system in person. I've been very frustrated seeing the smaller kids, usually not much younger than 9, that I have worked with trying to deal with the full-sized court and high bouncing balls. There's been a lot of resistance here to the enforced use of green balls for the 10s, but I really like to see them playing with the lower bouncing balls. Sadly, I know of no place in my area where little kids are actually coming out to 36 or 60 foot courts and just playing. My judgement is based on what I've seen on video and to me, it looks fabulous.
As for when to go up, I would simply be concerned that good habits are developing with relatively conventional grips. Then when the young player makes the shift to the higher bouncing yellow ball, his good habits will be more comfortable than the full Western routine to which having a ball always over your head seems to lead the little ones.
Sounds like they are doing a lot more of it in Great Britain and they have a better feedback. I'll defer to Stotty's input here. From what I've read the transition is a difficult period in that the player loses some of his repertoire as he goes to full sized rackets and higher bouncing balls on full sized courts, but after a year or so, they come out way ahead of the kids that didn't have the QuickStart experience.
Keep up the good work. And be patient. It is a very long road. But establish good habits and the rewards will be huge down the road.
donComment
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I cannot answer such a broad question with any great knowledge.
In Spain they have rejected mini tennis on the basis that they have had so much success over the last twenty years without it.
Other EU countries have taken mini tennis onboard, others are less enthusiastic.
Our approach was kind of imported from Belgium on the back the success they had (Malisse, Clijsters, Rochus, Henin) with a population of just 11 million. The LTA imported the services of Belgium's Steven Martens and Carl Maes to carbon copy the Belgium mini tennis model over here.
Many UK coaches were reluctant about strictly adhering to mini tennis at first. But I was at a course where Steven Martens warned that if coaches resisted change they would find it like trying to "drive on the wrong side of the road". He meant it. They LTA enforced the model through the competition structure over which they have complete control. All children who enter competitions HAVE to use the ball relevant to their age group. Tournament referees enforce this. This of course means it makes sense for children to learn and practice with the correct balls with their coaches.
The benefits for us could be significant over the next five to ten years. The signs indicate that children are more technically proficient than they ever were when only yellow balls were used to coach children of all ages. Swing paths are better with the small, lighter rackets, while the slower, low-bouncing balls make it much easier to coach the fundamentals. Scaling everything down for young children makes perfect sense.
We could be on to a winner here with mini tennis. There are signs that we could be starting to produce some really good players.
Players/parents, and coaches come to that, have to resist any temptation to use heavier rackets to gain greater weight of shot, as this wrecks stroke production...but gains greater power in the short term...that's a tough carrot to resist for those who want immediate success. The biggest problem coaches face is in trying to coach kids who use rackets that are too big or too heavy, or both. Better a child learns optimum technique even if it means losing to peers who have opted for heavier rackets to gain short term success...which they will get, but often at a cost...the cost being technique.
The eventual transition to yellow ball can prove a little tricky...but at worst it's merely a brief interruption...nothing more...the benefits of sticking with it are worth the wait.StottyComment
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The last couple of years there have been a lot of successful British juniors in the Grand Slam junior events. When I met Anne Pankhurst almost 5 years ago, she told me she had both Henman and Murray in the programs she ran.
I really wish the approach would be more readily adopted here in LA. It's tough to do on your own without the full structure of tournaments on all the different sized courts, etc.
donComment
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wow
Wow this little guy hits the best forehands I have ever seen at the age. I LOVE his technique, it's just how I try to teach it.
He could do a few things other than just lift his left leg up as he hits, but he has great footwork in general.
Good work!
Tom AllsoppComment
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Like I said I try to stay out of threads unless people post something directly for me...but wow...he looks great. Beautifully fluid!Comment
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I would need to download it and convert it to Quick Time to really take a look. Might do that as a Your Strokes.
Tell me more about what parts of the site you used and how. Also how long he's been playing, where you guys are, where you play, etc!Comment
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