5 Reasons Mini Tennis Can Cause Bad Habits in Junior Tennis Players

My view on the use of quick start tennis balls is that they are a great tool for tennis coaches to use in developing young players.



Quick Start Tennis must be used in creating the correct habits for tennis on a full size court. However there are certain aspects that fill me with apprehension with the Short Game System that is currently being promoted.



As we all know once a habit becomes inherent a blueprint of behaviour is unconsciously established and becomes very difficult to alter.



We all know how difficult it is to alter an entrenched bad habit like changing your diet. So why are the powers that be insist that tennis be taught this way?



Here are 5 bad habits I have witnessed adolescent players developing with this method.



#1. The Most Important Shot In Tennis

The junior player has to hit their serve down in order to get it into the mini tennis court, which in reality is the opposite of what you have to do in the real game on a full size court. Even Top Pro player like John Isner, a mountain of man at 6 foot 10 inches has to hit his serves up to get the ball into court. Tennis is a vertical game and its really important that serves are hit up from day one! 



#2. Serving And Volleying With The Wrong Grip

To get an early sense of achievement the serve and forehand volley are taught with the forehand grip. This is primarily wrong as the young player will not develop spin or control on the ball and will find it hard when they progress to the bigger court with heavier balls.



The hammer grip must be used on these shots to create the habit of hitting the ball with spin and control from the outset of their development!



These grips are easy to execute with our simple Tennis in Minutes methodology which allow players to master and discover these shots with the right grips in next to no time. 



#3. Restrictive Progressions for the Forehand

Junior players are ordered to stand in 3/4 open stance for the forehand. This restricts natural movement whilst starting in a natural 'square on' posture , encourages natural movement to help them 'find' the ball. With beginners, the key thing is to develop intuitive reception skills.



A partially open stance encourages balance when driving the ball because it allows the dominant hip to 'torque' and produce power, but junior players can only do this when the ball is in a certain position in relation to the player. So in conclusion , this is but one posture out of many! Tennis has to be a game of flexibility and natural movement not prescriptive restrictive progressions. 



#4. Low Nets Lead to Poor Technique

Junior players can get away with whacking across the ball using poor technique, instead of hitting up like you have to on a full size court. There is no sense of hitting up in their ball striking, whereas tennis is now very much a vertical game with racquets hitting up the back of the ball with topspin and players moving up as they hit.  



#5. The Forgotten Shot in Mini Tennis

When did you last see a single handed backhand being taught in a mini tennis lesson? This is not taught because its perceived as a difficult shot for adolescent players to master and that the player will not have the strength to hit it yet.



If a player is developing with lighter and slower quick start tennis balls there is very little danger of injury so there is no excuse for not teaching this shot. After all not all players are natural two handers!



Its my belief that both one-handed and two-handed backhands should be taught and the junior player is then able to discover which works best for him or her.



Our Tennis in Minutes method has adolescent players as young as 4 years of age hitting incredible single handed backhands. The easy progressions make the grip change a very effortless habit to master.



In conclusion we are fans of Quick Start Tennis and use the varying low compression balls, but we are also very sensitive of the risks of teaching bad habits at the beginning of the tennis players career.





John Littleford, Co- Founder and MD of Modern Tennis International is a well respected Tennis Coach in the area of tennis innovation Read more about his super quick but highly effective system of teaching tennis at his website http://playmoderntennis.com/ModerntennisDVDs.html