Tennis classes: great for sporty kids seeking a challenge

A whole host of skills are required in tennis, and tennis players are some of the finest all-round sports people. Where kids are concerned tennis may not always be a common sport sought out. This is possibly because many kids will get involved in sports through extra-curricular activities in their school. Naturally many schools, particularly primary schools, will not have the space or funding to dedicate to a sport such as tennis. Quite rightly a school’s limited resources must be put into facilities that will benefit the greatest number of students. As a result many children do not encounter tennis in their regular life, and may only know about it through the Wimbledon fever that strikes each July.

There are plenty of tennis clubs keen for new players to get involved. If you have a child who is quite sporty it would be worth assessing their skills to see if their natural talent is being tapped into sufficiently by the current array of sports on offer in their school. Both physical and mental skills are needed for tennis, so this would be a good choice for a kid who is good at sports and also likes a mental challenge.

For a complete beginner, attending a summer camp can be a great introduction to the sport. It will be easy to see if your child has enough general skills to work on. Strength and endurance are obviously needed to take you through lengthy tennis matches, but flexibility and agility are definitely needed to take physical power to the next level. A child that possesses not just good physical talent, but shows signs of having an instinctive ability towards the more strategic side of the game, would benefit greatly from individual lessons.

Group lessons and camps will focus on the general level of ability, and building on the social dynamic in a group will clearly an important factor for many involved. To go a step further, individual attention will really help a child make good advances. And with most children, having something to show for your effort is very important. We all know that children are not really going to appreciate slow progress, and their attention span can be very short if they don’t start to see results relatively quickly. Therefore it is crucial not to let a potentially talented child be put off by the slower progress in a group situation.

Even when doing individual tennis lessons there are plenty of other opportunities to get involved with others and enjoy the social side too. Most clubs will get their players involved in tournaments, giving kids the chance to challenge themselves, while meeting with others and making friends. As talents progress there can also be some trips away to other matches, with a great emphasis on your club and team. Naturally this is a sport that also allows for doubles matches – yet another way to explore working with others and forming a strong team.

Overall this is a great sport to introduce your child to. It is something they can hopefully excel at with the right skill set, but it is definitely a sport that will stand the test of time and will be something they can play at all levels for the rest of their days!

HelenElizabeth is an Irish writer available for proofreading, editing, and general writing work.