Shea has a cheer leading and dance background, but little experience with ball sports. She needs work on her depth perception, ball spacing , and hand eye coordination. She has the potential to catch up. Just being honest here. There is usually hope for everyone in Shea's situation. Well, not exactly. Believe it or not I actually did have to tell one client, to quit. I know, I know, it is usually the client that fires the tennis pro. But this was the exception.
Here are some general issues, and solutions. Remember this is only a basic beginner checklist.
1) Framing or completely missing . To avoid this, track the ball ( on the seams) with eyes, into center of racket. Pulling the head up off the ball can also cause this.
2) Hitting too high. This is a racket pitch control issue. To make the ball stay lower , keep the pitch of racket ( a.k.a racket face) level (parallel to the net) upon contact.
3) Hitting into the net. Usually cause by improper ( downward or level ) swing shape. The correct swing shape is low to high. Racket starts below your waist , finishes above your shoulder.
4) Hitting out of bounds. Result of hitting too hard, or too high. Hit softer, and aim diagonal ( court is longer diagonally) rather than straight. Also see (2).
5) Getting crowded by the ball. To create more space, hit the ball without a bounce or back away from the ball .
By the end of the hour Shea was more comfortable and could sustain a basic mini rally. She started smiling & relaxing. Later I received a text from her mom that made my day : "Shea loved the tennis lessons and u! She said when class is over, she wants privates as well. Thanks 4 making her feel comfortable.... Yuppie, I'm relieved she liked the lesson . At this age you can't force kids into anything they don't want to do.
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