QuickStart for Monday, April 11

Tomorrow we will kick off the spring season of QuickStart tennis. I want to give you a little background about QuickStart tennis. Most if not all other sports utilize modified rules and equipment to teach proper skills to youth (think t-ball, basketball with 8 foot goals, shortened soccer fields, etc.) Tennis has been a little behind in this trend. The United States Tennis Association is now endorsing QuickStart tennis as the way to teach children tennis skills. Taking a small child on a regular sized tennis court with adult-sized racquets and regular tennis balls is a recipe for frustration at not being successful and lots of ball chasing. QuickStart Tennis utilizes smaller racquets and modified balls, nets, and court size to give children a chance to be successful at tennis. At first glance it will appear that children participating in QuickStart are not playing "real" tennis. However, they will be learning the skills necessary to progress them to a point where they will be able to be successful on a regulation sized tennis court with regulation balls. Many youth tournaments now are going by the QuickStart format, and the USTA is pushing for cities and schools to put permanent QuickStart lines on their tennis courts for childrens' use. Please let me know if you have any questions about QuickStart tennis. Our hope is that all children involved this spring will gain a love for tennis as they become successful at learning tennis skills.