You love tennis, and it’s easy to see why – it’s a great sport that’s a lot of fun. After all, they don’t call it “the sport of a lifetime” for no reason. Tennis is one of those few sports where you can literally play it at any stage in life – as a kid, teenager, young adult, and beyond. Your goal when it comes to playing tennis will likely change as you progress through life, but the one constant is that you play.
When you love something, it’s completely natural to have this desire to pass it along to other friends or loved ones. What could be better than loving to play tennis? Well, having some of your closest family and friends play it with you! And if you’re a parent, introducing your child to tennis could end up being a great way for you to bond with one another while having a great time.
Obviously, trying to get a kid excited about tennis is much different than trying to do the same thing for someone much closer to your actual age. You need to make the thought of it appealing in one way or another. If they become a skilled player later on in their lives, then that’s awesome, but that’s not the goal here – it’s to introduce something that is fun for them. It’s like another game they can play during their always-busy days.
So, don’t worry about trying to get them to do drills and other things like that with you. That won’t work, and if it does anything, it’ll turn them off to the sport for the time being, and for who knows how long. They need to know the basic rules, but if they don’t follow them exactly how they should be followed, it’s not a big deal (at this stage, at least). The important thing is that they’re enjoying themselves while on the court.
Here are a couple of ways to help get your kids excited about the sport of a lifetime.
Just Let Them Play
As we just mentioned, you don’t need to go over every single tennis rule with your kids before they get going. Once you have the essentials down – like how to hold a racket and hit a tennis ball, just let them do their thing.
When you lack structure at this stage in introducing tennis to kids, it allows them to have ownership of the process. It also allows them to find fun in the parts of the game that you may have not realized. And if they have a good time doing this (within reason and without injuring others, of course), they’ll likely be more open to coming back and playing again in the future.
Keep it Short and Keep it Moving
When doing a new activity, it’s important to keep it short and fun for kids. If you spend too much time explaining rules or how to play, they’ll be too bored to play before they even get an opportunity to.
There are plenty of ways you can help them have a good time while also improving their skills, but there needs to be a focus on activity. Kids enjoy trying new things, so don’t make them wait too long before letting them jump right in.
