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Class Recaps
Last Saturday was so much fun. We worked on forehands and backhands, progressing towards rallying in preparation for this week's Davis Cup competition between all four sites. Lafayette Gardens came out in full force, with 6 volunteers and 20 students. Marcy even started working on serves!
This coming Saturday, we'll be holding an intra-league Davis Cup at Marcy site! Stop by and see how the kids are progressing!
Another great week for KCTL at all four sites. We worked on forehands and backhands and then switching between the two strokes based on where the ball lands. A helpful tip for kids who aren't motivated to do the stroke correctly, because they manage to get the ball over the net any which way: Remind kids that as they get older and play better opponents, the ball will be coming at them very fast and have a strong stroke foundation will prepare them to handle increasing speed and force and tricks like top-spin and slices.
One way to teach the forehand:
GRIP: We tell the kids to shake hands with their racquet using the hand they write with.
MOTION 1: Then we tell them to "open the door," swinging their arm out to the side behind them.
MOTION 2: Then they "close the door," swinging their racquet in front of their body.
END: The kids should catch the racket with their opposite hand above their shoulder and shift back into the "ready position."
One way to teach the backhand, building on the forehand:
STEP 1: We have the kids grip their racket like they're doing a forehand and then add their other hand to the grip slightly above the racquet.
STEP 2: Take a small step forward with their dominant foot, which is the same side as the hand they write with.
STEP 3: Then they "open the door" using both hands on the opposite side of the body than the forehand.
STEP 4: They "close the door," swinging the racket across their body and ending above the opposite shoulder.
Here's a pic from class at Lafayette Gardens! Cya on Saturday!
Last Saturday's class was all about getting back into the swing of things. After two cancelled classes due to weather, and another shortened for the same reason, it was nice to spend the full two hours on the courts with the kids.
At Tompkins Tennis Club, we practiced backhands. We got the kids in two lines and practiced having them "open the door and close the door," first on their forehand side and then on their backhand side. Giving the kids ample time to practice their swing, allowed for the volunteers to check each child's grip on the racket and their starting and stopping points (waist-level and above the shoulder respectively.)
After that, a few of the more seasoned players played out some points during a King of the Court match. The other kids focused on drills to get more comfortable with the backhand.
All in all another great Saturday class, below are a few photos from the different sites. Visit the KCTL Facebook page to view more photos from class at all four sites.
Well, the season is going great thus far, except for the lack of cooperation from the weather. After about 40 minutes, class at all four sites was cancelled due to rain this past Saturday. Nevertheless, we had a great turn out of volunteers and of enthusiastic kids for the first part of class. Let's keep our fingers crossed for sunny skies this coming Saturday.
It was perfect Saturday for tennis, sunny with a cool breeze. We had a good number of kids come out for the first day of tennis at each of the four sites. We went over a few new rules -- youth athletes who show up late will have "consequences," such as running extra laps, and for those kids that show up after the first 30 minutes, they'll be denied entry into class completely. Lesson learned? Be on time! Class always starts at 1pm.
At Tompkins, the first part of class was spent getting to know each other's names and playing fun games like relay races. Then we moved into the proper way to hold your racquet and the correct motion of a forehand. We focused on swinging from the middle of the hip and following through so the racquet ends above the shoulder. The youth athletes caught on very quickly. We broke them up into three groups each with a different game that focused on the forehand technique. Class ended with a group game of frogger.
It was a really great time and we're all looking forward to next week as well as seeing the final results of the kids' hard work at the end of the season. It's going to be a great year! Check out some more photos from the season opener on Facebook.
Last weekend, many of the KCTL volunteers gathered at Tompkins early for a special day. Thanks to a grant from the Citizens Committee for NYC, we spent the day beautifying the area around the blacktop courts at Tompkins Houses, including picking up litter, raking up old leaves, pulling weeds, churning soil, and planting new flowers and plants.
I was impressed by two things: how much the kids enjoyed digging up the dirt and working with tools, and how committed our volunteers are who worked all day long to finish up the project. After all the hard work, the kids are looking forward to tennis next week! Check out all the photos of Beautification Day on Facebook.
Again, a special thank you to Citizens Committee of NYC for their support and donations.
The gloom cleared by Saturday morning, and KCTL was on the courts at Marcy, Tompkins and Lafayette. We had over 75 kids between the three sites and some 15+ volunteers. Turn out was great.
During class, we had kids working on agility and dexterity drills. Some of the older and/or more skilled players engaged in match play. The match play is a great opportunity to teach the kids the rules of the game as well as good sportsmanship like shaking hands, not over-celebrating on a good point and on the other side, not shutting down when losing. It also gets them psyched because it's a good reminder that they'll be playing matches against the kids of other sites' at the end-of-year jamboree.
The volunteers met up after class to talk about the good and the bad. Michael handed out some chock-full-of-good-information USTA drill manuals that also had great teaching guidelines when working with kids. KCTL is dedicated to having volunteers that aren't just great at tennis, but also great at mentoring. We were also reminded that we should always reward effort and not winning.
Tiffany brought up a great tip/game that the kids play in school to help keep a station organized and listening. If things get unruly, the instructor says, "Eyes on who?" and the kids know to respond with "Eyes on Instructor's Name." It's a simple way to bring attention back to the instructor/adult.
At the end of the volunteers meeting, Michael talked about the super, awesome fundraiser KCTL will be hosting in July. More details to come soon!
