Equipment

Determining your equipment needs is an essential part of developing a successful 10 and Under Tennis program. Ideally, every child should come to class with his or her own kids tennis racquet. If you are responsible for providing equipment for the program (i.e you are a PE teacher), try to make sure that there is one racquet for every child (as opposed to having kids take turns using the equipment). This will help ensure that the kids stay on task, and the time spent developing skills is maximized.

Kids Racquets

A mix of 21-, 23-, and 25-inch kids tennis racquets will help ensure that the appropriate racquets are being utilized for 10 and Under Tennis play. Since 23-inch racquets can be utilized for both 36 foot courts (red ball) and 60 foot courts (orange ball), it is recommended to order a high ration of this size (typically half of the racquets you need).

If you are working with very young children (5 and under), it might be necessary to include 19' racquets as well.

Balls

Kids need a ball that is sized and paced to thier playing abilities. A yellow tennis ball moves too fast, bounces too high and is too heavy for smaller racquets. Each age group, therefore, uses specific kids tennis balls better suited to thier size and playing ability.

For kids 8 and under, a red foam or low compression, red felt ball moves slower, bounces lower and travels less distance.

For 9-10 year olds, a low compression orange felt ball moves a little faster and travels farther than the red ball used with the younger group, but it still had a lower bounce than the standard yellow tennis ball.

Courts

Portable nets and throw-down lines allow organizers to create multiple kids tennis courts for 10 and Under Tennis play. It is recommended that you use one set of throw-down lines for every four players in your program.

You can also use tennis tape or pennant flags as an alternative to a net, as well as chalk or painters tape to create the lines for the court.

*For information and ideas on how to run children's tennis programs with large numbers of students and limited equipment, refer to www.usta.com/schools