The Elms Junior Tennis Programmes
Mini tennis is designed for children aged between 3 and 10 years utilising smaller courts, nets and rackets as well as lower-bouncing tennis balls to develop vital tennis skills and techniques.
The idea behind the programme is to allow the children to develop using the varying equipment and provides them with the perfect opportunity to learn the fundamentals of tennis at an early age.
The Mini Tennis groups are as follows:
Classes are 45 minutes duration and will use smaller rackets and red balls which are 75% slower than yellow balls. Sessions will focus on lots of games that work on the primary fundamentals – agility, balance and co-ordination as well as teaching the basic skills, learning how to hold a racket and gently pushing/hitting the ball.
Classes are 1 hour duration. Players should use 17” – 23” rackets and will play on the mini courts with red balls. Sessions will have a 10-15 minute warm up, focusing on the primary fundamentals required to play tennis – agility, balance, co-ordination and speed. The session will then focus heavility on the technique of the groundstrokes, volleying and serve and return and introducing match play.
Mini Tennis Orange is a great way for players to continue their progress and is played with shorter rackets (23”-25”), softer balls and courts are bigger and wider than the red stage but still smaller than full-size tennis courts allowing players to develop a rounded games whilst learning a range of techniques and tactics.
It is the next stage before playing on a full-sized court and helps players develop different shots and tactics. An orange is used which is 50% slower than a yellow ball, giving players better control at this important stage of development.
Green group is played on a full size tennis court with bigger rackets (25”-26”) and balls which are a little softer than yellow balls and are 25% slower. It is the next stage before moving on to full compression yellow balls and helps players develop and improve all aspects of their game.
Played on a full size court with a yellow ball. This is where players will use all the techniques learnt previously and will start to introduce tactical intentions when they play.
SOE is an invite only group whereby players are selected to join if they show high level skills within their group. Players will also have demonstrated the correct commitment to maximise their potential.
As well as the above groups, The Elms also offer an Inclusive SEND Tennis Group.
Pan-disability sessions for D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent children. Our next course will be running from January to March 2025. Please call The Elms on 020 8954 8787 to book.
Assessments
At The Elms LTC we want to ensure a clear pathway of development is set for each player. Following the end of term, an assessment is devised based on development and progress. This feedback can then be used for parents/guardians, coaches and the player to focus on for the following term.
We encourage all of our players to practice and compete as much as possible. In order to compete, all players need to receive a British Tennis Membership. You can do this by registering online with The LTA, ensuring you select Elms Tennis Club as your place to play.
All above groups run every weekend throughout the school academic year as well as midweek ‘twilight’ groups from April to October.
Amy Newsome, Director of Sport
North London Collegiate School, Edgware
“The Elms have been providing us with tennis lessons in the lunchtime slot for the past 16 years. Their professionalism has always impressed me and they have certainly made the communication and organisation side of things very easy to manage. The courses have been very popular with our girls – The Elms seem to get the balance just right between teaching technique, playing games and having fun. I would like to thank them for their input and I look forward to many more years working together”