Mini tennis equipment, and lots of it!!!

Mini tennis - how a good, simple idea has got just a little out of hand!

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[SamTsvamuno]

Bruce you are a legend! only you can make a seriously strong point in such a comic way. Never laughed so much about anything to do with tennis

[Tarrantennis]

@SamTsvamuno  Thanks - greatly appreciated.

[elliotshere]

Q. How long has the mini tennis been running?

[Tarrantennis]

@elliotshere The sponge ball was used indoors for short tennis at least 23 years ago. The outdoor low compression balls were more recent. I think the orange was first, maybe 8 or so years ago? But the complex nature of the system is quite recent. Until 2 or 3 years back Under 10s could still play at U12, and juniors had more flexibility to move between age-groups. The current rigid fixed structure, particularly the mini tennis competition structure in its current form is very new.

[Tarrantennis]

@Tarrantennis For me, the low compression ball can be a superb teaching tool when used appropriately. It allows children to develop good and appropriate technique. But a rigid structure that gives the coach no flexibility and the pupil no progression, other than by age, is not conducive to good learning.

[Tarrantennis]

@elliotshere Sorry - still answering question! Thinking about it, maybe orange balls started being used a lot up to 10 years ago (and I found them a good teaching tool), and the worst excesses of all the single year age-groups U8, U9, U10 and U12, all separate and not allowed to play each other, finalised about 3 years ago.

[dom3700]

haha -- an interesting point, well illustrated. Nice work!

[chrisli597]

Great stuff Bruce. I'm not a tennis coach apart from my work with the kids, but I totally agree with all the issues you have highlighted in this clip. When we lived in France for a year my younger sons (9 and 10 at the time) were playing 3 set matches for our French tennis club with normal adult yellow balls. Now that we are back in the UK they have lost a lot of enthusiasm for the game and were forced to revert back to green balls etc etc etc UK obsession with balls!!!! Forget it. (CL)

[suben1123]

Good points, so keep it simple. I use caution tape (7.99/roll at home depot-lasts 4 years). 1 kind of balls that are low compression (pick one). No throw down lines. That's what I do.

[Rafasgrl]

GO BRUCE!!!!! awesome stuff!! :D

[Tennisubet1]

I like it when the net falls over!

The transitional ball is great, and the racquets. But all the rules around mini tennis are an LTA construct. Fewer kids are playing in tournaments or club teams. Junior tennis in Britain has never been in a worse state.

[TheTennisexpert]

I agree. From the coaches prospective the logistics and expense of running mini tennis at red, orange and green levels are inconvenient. However, each stage has a purpose and mini red is great when you have purpose-built courts (as at my club). Mini Green has good purpose too. Great players will always be great whatever balls they train with. But for the mediocre, mini tennis (all stages of it) is genius - it's just bloody inconvenient for coaches.