Tennis Games for Kids During Practice

Tennis is a fun game to play, but it can be frustrating for beginners. Sometimes, children will have more fun playing tennis-related games prior to actually playing the game of tennis. These games make tennis fun for children and get them to want to play the game.

  1. Bouncing Ball Race

    • Have the children form two teams behind the baseline. Place a target, like a cone or a bucket, 5 feet from the net. The first person in line continuously bounces the ball with the racquet, as if she were dribbling the ball in basketball. Everyone must circle around the target and return to the baseline without losing control of the ball. If anyone does lose control, that person starts over. The first team to have all the children get around the target and back to the baseline wins. This game teaches eye-hand coordination and control.

    Simon Says

    • The instructor stands at the net facing the children who are lined up side-by-side across the service line. The instructor will say, “Simon says,” and then call out tennis strokes that he wants the children to do, such as hit a forehand or hit a volley, and the children have to do that. If the instructor decides, he can stop and say, “freeze,” in the middle of the stroke. This is a good way for the coach to check proper technique.

    Go to Bed

    • The coach will toss the ball to one player at a time. If the player gets the ball back into the court, he gets to go back in line. If he misses the ball the first time, the instructor tells him to yawn, the second time he misses, the instructor tells him that he is very tired. The third miss, the instructor says go to bed, and the fourth miss, the instructor tells him to fall asleep.

      When that happens, he has to go to the other side of the court, where he tries to catch the other players’ balls in the air or on the first bounce. When he is successful, he can wake-up and go back to the other side. This is a good game for hand-eye coordination.

    Hit and Run

    • This game has one student at a time on the court, standing at the service line on the “T,” the middle. The instructor feeds a ball from the other side of the court, first to the forehand side, where the student has to run over there to hit the ball and then run back to the “T.” Then, the instructor will feed the ball to the backhand side of the court, where the student must run over there, hit the ball and run to the “T.” The instructor can alternate to which side of the court she will feed the ball. Each time, the student must run over to that side and back to the “T.” This goes on until the student gets tired, at which point, she will go to the end of the line, and it will be the next player’s turn. This game teaches students to get back in ready position after they hit the ball.