Short Tennis For Children

Anglia TV: Report on a new type of scaled down tennis called 'Short Tennis' which aims to make the game more accessible for children.

A boy is playing tennis in Trowse Training Hall with a large wooden tennis racket. A sign reading ‘SAAB Junior Tennis’ is visible behind him. Steve Rider reports that although the racket is an over dramatization it shows the difficulty children face whilst playing tennis. As tennis is designed for adults it can cause frustration for children taking up the game for the first time. Children are playing tennis with small rackets as Steve Rider commentates that the answer to this problem is in a new version of the game called Short Tennis, which is receiving the backing of coaches and tennis authorities. Short Tennis is simply a scaled down version of the game, but its equipment faithfully reproduces the techniques and pace of the real thing. Close up of a child hitting the ball with a scaled down tennis racket. Steve Rider continues to describe the design of the Small Tennis equipment as children play the game. The court is also scaled down to be the size of a badminton court to make it easier for the children. Rider explains how Small Tennis was being demonstrated to coaches and teachers but the important verdict was to come from the children themselves. Steve Rider interviews the children about their thoughts on Short Tennis. They all say that they enjoyed it. He asks them what difficulties they found when they first took up tennis, to which one boy replies that there are never enough courts to play on and that they feel more indoor courts are needed. Another child says that children are too small to run around full sized courts and so it puts a lot of them off playing tennis. Another boy says that the adult rackets are too heavy for them and so serving over the net is too difficult. They all agree that they would like to see Short Tennis in their schools. Interview with Derek Bone, Lawn Tennis Association, who explains the equipment involved in Small Tennis such as the plastic bats and soft tennis balls. He talks about how he had seen it done in Sweden which was a success. Children are shown playing Small Tennis as Derek Bone explains how it is useful for children to start with this and then grade up to traditional tennis. He also talks about the tennis techniques children learn by playing Small Tennis and the ways that he has been promoting the game. Close up of children playing tennis followed by the camera panning across the indoor court. A child serves the ball over the net.

Featured Buildings

Trowse Training Hall

Keywords

Children; Lawn Tennis Association; Racket; Small Tennis; Sport; Tennis;