Red Stars (Ages 5 – 7)

This group is for the youngster just getting started. The focus is on fun, hand/eye coordination, and introduction to the sport. Our focus is to make tennis enjoyable, while starting to develop skills that will help them improve as they grow. Learn the cornerstones of technique and rallying: coordination, movement, throwing and catching. Basic strokes, court position and rules of play are taught in a manner that allows kids to feel as if they are really playing the game, not just learning the strokes. Grips, footwork patterns, and basic swing paths are introduced. These players begin demonstrating appropriate listening skills and interactions with classmates. Should be able to rally with some success before advancing to the next level.

Court: 36′
Balls: Red foam & red felt balls
Racquet: 21″ or 23”

Level I (Ages 5 – 7)

Development Objectives

• Introduction to Tennis, Forehand and Backhand
• Introduction to Grips
• Introduction to Footwork and movement
• Hand/Eye coordination
• Throwing/catching

Level II (Ages 5 – 7)

Development Objectives

• Continue to work on Forehand and Backhand. Introduction to top spin
• Continue to learn the details of the various grips and their advantages/disadvantages
• Introduction to Serve, Volleys
• Introduction to spin on forehand and backhand shots
• Improve Hand/Eye coordination
• Improve Foot movement – side to side movement
• Tracking with movement

Level III (Ages 5 – 7)

Development Objectives

• Continue to work on the development of Forehand and Backhand
• Continue to work on the development of Serve and Volleys
• Continue to work on generating more consistent top spins
• Introduction of ball placement concepts – Cross court, Down the line
• Introduction of concepts relating to match play – points, positions, winning and losing
• Improve Hand/Eye coordination
• Tracking with movement
• Improve Foot movement – introduction of split steps and recovery steps

Orange (Ages 8 – 10)

Techniques from Red Ball will be continued with age appropriate skills and expectations. Players should be consistent with ready position and developing proper timing with split steps, and show a desire to improve footwork. These players should be using proper grips as instructed and forming stroke fundamentals for forehand and backhand groundstrokes, volleys, overheads, and serves with continental grips. Emphasis is on learning and enjoying the game on a 60’ court. Movement and coordination are refined while students gain a proper technical foundation, learn to sustain rallies and play using proper rules and scoring.

Court: 60’ court
Balls: Red Felt & Orange Balls
Racquets: 23” – 26”

Level I (Ages 8 – 10)

Development Objectives

• Introduction to Tennis, Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Introduction to modern forehand with unit turn
• Introduction to grips – Semi-western for forehand and top hand eastern grip for 2 handed backhand, continental grip for serve, forehand volley and backhand volley
• Introduction of concepts relating to match play – points, positions, winning and losing
• Hand/Eye coordination
• Introduction to proper foot movement

Level II (Ages 8 – 10)

Development Objectives

• Perfecting grip techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Solidifying modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve foot movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps
• Basic understanding of rallying techniques – cross court shots, down the line shots, hitting the ball with top spin and keeping the ball in play, etc
• Improve top spin on the forehand shots
• Hand/Eye coordination

Level III (Ages 8 – 10)

Development Objectives

• Good understanding of grip techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Good understanding of modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve serve technique – how to load up using leg, getting into trophy position, hitting the ball with some spin
• Improve foot movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps
• Improve top spin on the forehand shots
• Improve understanding of rallying techniques – hitting to open courts, playing high percentage cross court shots, going down the line shots for short balls, hitting the ball with top spins for both forehand and backhand shots and keeping the ball in play, etc
• Hand/Eye coordination

Green (Ages 11 & 12)

Techniques learned in the past classes will be continued with age appropriate skills and expectations. These players are physically ready and able to move to the 78’ (full) court. Proper grips and stroke techniques are now solidified. Players can feed and rally with specific direction, and can sustain longer rallies with proper technique on the shots and movement. Continued emphasis on learning the basic strokes, footwork, ball tracking, general court positioning and constructing points and scoring on a full 78’ court.

Courts: 60’ & 78’ court
Balls: Orange & Green Dot Balls
Racquet: 24-26″

Level I (Ages 11 & 12)

Development Objectives

• Introduction to Tennis, Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Introduction to modern forehand with unit turn
• Introduction to grips – Semi-western for forehand and top hand eastern grip for 2 handed backhand, continental grip for serve, forehand volley and backhand volley
• Introduction of concepts relating to match play – points, positions, winning and losing
• Hand/Eye coordination
• Introduction to proper foot movement

Level II (Ages 11 & 12)

Development Objectives

• Perfecting grip techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Incorporating modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve foot movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps, lateral (east to west), forward and backward (south to north) and diagonal movements
• Work on consistent swing path
• Basic understanding of rallying techniques – cross court shots, down the line shots, hitting the ball with top spin and keeping the ball in play, etc
• Introduction to the concepts of match play – scoring points, winning, losing, building points, learning patience, etc
• Encourage participating in age appropriate challenger level tournaments
• Improve top spin on the forehand and backhand shots
• Improve serve technique
• Hand/Eye coordination

Level III (Ages 11 & 12)

Development Objectives

• Good understanding of grip techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Good understanding of modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve serve technique – how to load up using leg, getting into trophy position, hitting the ball with some spin
• Improve foot movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps, lateral (east to west), forward and backward (south to north) and diagonal movements, introduction of crossover steps for recovery
• Improve consistency with the swing path for FH and BH shots, keep the backswing short with a simple loop and finish the follow through consistently
• Improve top spin on the forehand and backhand shots
• Improve understanding of rallying techniques – hitting to open courts, playing high percentage cross court shots, going down the line shots for short balls, hitting the ball with top spins for both forehand and backhand shots and keeping the ball in play, building points patiently, etc
• Participate in challenger level tournaments and go deep in the main draw and even win a few
• Hand/Eye coordination

Yellow (Ages 13+)

This group will continue to solidify stroke techniques and implement strategies and patterns of play. Practice outside of class encouraged. This is also the class for the beginner high school juniors just starting out who want to learn the game of tennis. Focus is on fundamental techniques, teaching the basic strokes, court positioning, movement and scoring.

Courts: 78′
Racquets: 26” & 27”
Balls: Green & yellow balls

Level I (Ages 13+)

Development Objectives

• Introduction to Tennis, Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Introduction to modern forehand with unit turn
• Introduction to grips – Semi-western for forehand and top hand eastern grip for 2 handed backhand, continental grip for serve, forehand volley and backhand volley
• Introduction of concepts relating to match play – points, positions, winning and losing
• Hand/Eye coordination
• Introduction to proper foot movement

Level II (Ages 13+)

Development Objectives

• Perfecting grip techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Incorporating modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve foot movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps, lateral (east to west), forward and backward (south to north) and diagonal movements
• Work on consistent swing path
• Basic understanding of rallying techniques – cross court shots, down the line shots, hitting the ball with top spin and keeping the ball in play, etc
• Introduction to the concepts of match play – scoring points, winning, losing, building points, learning patience, etc
• Encourage participating in age appropriate challenger level tournaments
• Improve top spin on the forehand and backhand shots
• Improve serve technique
• Hand/Eye coordination

Level III (Ages 13+)

Development Objectives

• Good understanding of grip techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Good understanding of modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve serve technique – how to load up using leg, getting into trophy position, hitting the ball with some spin
• Improve foot movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps, lateral (east to west), forward and backward (south to north) and diagonal movements, introduction of crossover steps for recovery
• Improve consistency with the swing path for FH and BH shots, keep the backswing short with a simple loop and finish the follow through consistently
• Improve top spin on the forehand and backhand shots
• Improve understanding of rallying techniques – hitting to open courts, playing high percentage cross court shots, going down the line shots for short balls, hitting the ball with top spins for both forehand and backhand shots and keeping the ball in play, building points patiently, etc
• Participate in challenger level tournaments and go deep in the main draw and even win a few
• Hand/Eye coordination

Level IV (Ages 13+)

Development Objectives

• Solid foundational techniques for Forehand, Backhand, Serve and Volley
• Use at least one of the shots as a reliable shot and use it as a weapon in match play
• Good understanding of modern forehand with unit turn
• Improve serve technique – how to load up using leg, getting into trophy position, hitting the ball with some spin, introduction to kick serve for second serve
• Improve foot work and movement – split step, move towards the ball, recover with shuffle steps, lateral (east to west), forward and backward (south to north) and diagonal movements, introduction of crossover steps for recovery
• Improve consistency with the swing path for FH and BH shots, keep the backswing short with a simple loop and finish the follow through consistently
• Improve top spin on the forehand and backhand shots
• Improve understanding of rallying techniques – hitting to open courts, playing high percentage cross court shots, going down the line shots for short balls, hitting the ball with top spins for both forehand and backhand shots and keeping the ball in play, building points patiently, etc
• Participate in challenger level tournaments and go deep in the main draw and even win a few
• Participate in champion level tournaments
• Hand/Eye coordination