The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly put a damper on our spring and summer plans, especially because we’ve all been ordered to stay at home and practice social distancing.
But just because your child doesn’t have access to a tennis court at home or you might not be able to enroll them in tennis classes in Toronto doesn’t mean that you have to put their training and tennis lessons on hold. Did you know that there are numerous tennis drills and exercises they can do at home to help them learn tennis and improve their game?
Keep reading for some helpful tips to help your child stay active during lockdown.
4 Tennis Drills to Do at Home
The String Catch
This drill will help your child improve their dexterity and hand-eye coordination, both of which are important when learning tennis. It will also help them understand the “soft touch” needed for more specialized shots, such as drop volleys.
With a racket in one hand, have them toss a tennis ball into the air with the other hand and attempt to catch the ball on the strings of the racket. The goal is to stop the momentum of the ball and have it rest safely on their racket. To prevent the ball from bouncing off their racket, they’ll have to judge the velocity of the ball as it falls and use some finesse.
Serving
The best way for your child to improve their serve (which is arguably the most important part of the game) is to practice their ball toss. They can practice this drill outside in the backyard using a racket, a tennis ball, and some masking tape to represent the baseline, or they can practice their serve inside without any equipment.
If they are practicing inside, have them visualize the ball and the racket in their hand. Remind them to pay close attention to technical details such as their foot placement and hip and shoulder movements, while they visualize themselves actually hitting the ball to a specific target, like they would during their tennis lessons in Toronto.
Tennis Racket Ball Bounce
This is an easy drill that almost everyone has completed in their tennis classes, and for a good reason! It’s one of the best drills to help players improve their hand-eye coordination.
All your child has to do is hold their racket in one hand in front of them, palm up, and simply bounce the ball off the strings of the racket as many times as they can without dropping it.
To make the drill a little more challenging, they can turn their wrist so that their palm is facing down to practice their backhand shots too.
Hit a Ball off the Wall
Another simple drill that most people are familiar with is hitting a ball against a wall. This drill can help your child with their volleys. It doesn’t require much space, so it can be practiced on the side of the house or inside the garage.
When hitting the ball, make sure your child practices doing the different strokes they’ve learned in their tennis lessons and that they use their pivots and rotations to simulate a real game.
4 Tennis Exercises to Do at Home
Stretch, Stretch, Stretch
Perhaps the most important move your child could do before they engage in any exercises or play tennis is to stretch. Stretching increases flexibility and strengthens connective tissue, both of which are important if they want to avoid injury.
The best part about stretching is that it requires absolutely no equipment and can be done almost anywhere (even in lockdown).
To warm up their muscles and prepare for an intense game of tennis, have your child start with dynamic stretching, which means doing stretches with movements (e.g. lunges and squats).
To cool down after a game of tennis, your child should perform static stretches, which means stretches without any movements (e.g. touching your toes).
Weightlifting
Tennis requires the use of various muscle groups, which is why it’s a great idea for your child to work out with weights in between tennis classes to improve their strength and athleticism.
All they need is a basic pair of dumbbells. If you don’t have dumbbells at home, your child can use books, soup cans, or other heavy objects instead.
Some simple exercises they can do at home to strengthen their shoulders, arms, and back muscles include dumbbell rows and dumbbell curls. To strengthen their legs and glutes, your child can try dumbbell squats and plyometric jumps. Meanwhile, good old crunches and planks can help strengthen their core muscles.
Push-ups
Push-ups are a great way for your child to improve their back and arm strength and build muscle. Tennis requires a great deal of upper body strength; to have a great forehand, your child needs to develop strong triceps and shoulder muscles.
To perform a basic push-up, have your child get down on all fours and place their hands slightly wider than their shoulders. Keeping their back and legs straight, they should slowly lower their chest until it’s almost touching the floor. Then, using their arms, they should push themselves back up to a high plank position.
Burpees
Burpees are all about getting your child’s heart pumping and helping them stay quick on their feet. They are a great exercise to do in-between tennis lessons, working the legs, chest, arms, and shoulders.
Burpees are kind of like a push-up mixed with a jumping squat. To do a full burpee, have your child crouch to the floor and get into a push-up position. While on all fours, they should do a push-up and then, keeping their arms on the floor, hop forward and stand up, so that they are in a squat position. Next, have them jump as high as they can, reaching both arms upwards.
Get Tennis Tips and Learn Drills from the Professionals
While tennis courts might be closed right now and enrolling your child in tennis lessons in Toronto is temporarily on hold, there are still many ways your child can learn tennis and improve their game. At Bayview Village Tennis Camp, we make it our priority to ensure our students are safe, healthy, and equipped with all they need to enjoy the game of tennis. Our Tennis Canada-certified instructors are experts at what they do, so if you have any questions about our tennis lessons or need more information, call us at (905) 889-7293 or e-mail us at pnielsen889@rogers.com.