Tennis Hot Shots (THS) is specifically designed to give young Juniors the best possible foundations to enjoy and succeed in tennis in the years to come. It's aimed at Juniors with limited or no full-court match experience.

The key aspects of THS are the use of modified court sizes and equipment and the “learning through play” philosophy. Scaled equipment allows our THS coaches to teach kids from a young age how to play the real game of tennis: They learn to rally, compete and score points.

The reduced speed, bounce-height and court length is more manageable, which assists the development of correct technique and tactics.

The general guide for choosing the THS colour is:

Red (5-7 yrs), Orange (7-9 yrs), Green (9+). However, prior experience and developmental readiness will determine what the ideal colour is. 

RED BALL (ages 5-7)

Summer: 60 mins Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

Winter:    45 mins Friday afternoons

The Red stage is the introductory stage for most players in this age bracket but it also provides plenty of scope to develop for players who already have experience but are not yet ready for the orange stage.  Large, soft, low bounce balls and small nets make it easier for kids to move around and enjoy success.  It allows young children to have rallies, learn basic tactics and play a wide range of games. The kids are guaranteed a fun tennis experience!

The children will learn: fundamental motor skills /  hand-eye-feet coordination / the correct grips and body positions / simple swings and making contact with the ball /  the whole range of tennis shots.

ORANGE BALL (Ages 7- 9)

Summer: 60 mins Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

Winter: 60 mins Friday afternoons

After mastering the Red stage, children move on to the Orange stage where the ball bounces a little higher and the court is a bit bigger.

Orange players are able to advance further in terms of technique (e.g., basic spin control) and tactics (e.g., direction control, shot selection, positional play and understanding offense and defense). 

GREEN BALL (ages 9+)  

Summer: 60 mins Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

Winter: 60 mins Friday afternoons

The THS Green program is fundamentally designed to prepare juniors for interclub. By the end of one season the kids will have learnt to serve and rally consistently with low compression balls on a full-court and will know the rules and how to keep score. Some players who are progressing rapidly may be asked to be reserve for (or practice with) interclub teams during the summer season. They may also progress to yellow ball groups during winter.

Registrations for Hot Shots coaching begins in Term 4 (September), with coaching starting mid-October and running through to mid-December.

Please contact juniors@tkhptennis.nz to enquire about registration in season.

Cancellations:

The coaching team will make a decison approximately 45 minutes before your lesson. Cancellation is posted on our Facebook page and if you do not have Facebook, you can see the feed on our website home page under social media.