Effects of an 8-week mini tennis coaching intervention on children’s groundstroke performance

Authors

  • Anna Fitzpatrick
  • Keith Davids
  • Joseph Antony Stone

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52383/itfcoaching.v26i76.158

Keywords:

Constraints-based coaching, mini tennis, intervention, task constraints, backhand

Abstract

Evidence suggests that modified versions of tennis (e.g. LTA mini tennis) positively influence children’s technical and tactical development. However, Fitzpatrick, Davids and Stone (2017) highlighted that mini tennis may not afford children as many opportunities to develop the backhand, as it does the forehand, potentially leading to a skill imbalance. Here, we investigated effects of an 8-week coaching intervention, designed to alleviate the asymmetry between forehand and backhand performance, on children’s match-play and skills test performance (Fitzpatrick, Davids & Stone 2018). After the intervention, the experimental group performed a higher percentage of backhands than the control group during match-play. The experimental group also demonstrated superior improvements in forehand and backhand technical proficiency compared to the control group and in their ability to maintain a rally with a coach. Findings suggested the modifications applied during our intervention may enhance children’s skill development and afford more opportunities to develop the backhand.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bryant J. E. (2012). Game/set/match: a tennis guide. (8th ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning

Buszard, T., Reid, M., Masters, R., & Farrow, D. (2016). Scaling the equipment and play area in children's sport to improve motor skill acquisition: a systematic review. Sports Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-015-0452-2

Farrow, D. & Reid, M. (2010). The effect of equipment scaling on the skill acquisition of beginning tennis players. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28, 723-732. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640411003770238

Fitzpatrick, A., Davids, K., & Stone, J. A. (2017). Effects of Lawn Tennis Association Mini Tennis as task constraints on children's match-play characteristics. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(22), 2204-2210. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1261179

Fitzpatrick, A., Davids, K., & Stone, J. A. (2018). Effects of scaling task constraints on emergent behaviours in children's racquet sports performance. Human Movement Science, 58, 80-87 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2018.01.007

Hodgkinson, M. (2015). Game, set and match: secret weapons of the world's top tennis players. Londres: Bloomsbury

Hopper, T. (2011). Game-as-teacher: modification by adaptation in learning through game-play. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 2, 3-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/18377122.2011.9730348

Hughes, M. & Moore, P. (1998). Movement analysis of elite level male 'serve and volley' tennis players. In A. Lees, I. Maynard, M. Hughes and T. Reilly (eds.), Science and racket sports II. (pp. 254-259) London: E & FN Spon

Larson, E J. & Guggenheimer, J D. (2013). The effects of scaling tennis equipment on the forehand groundstroke performance of children. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 12, 323- 331.

LTA. (2017). LTA - Mini Tennis. Retrieved from http://www3.lta.org. uk/LTA-Mini-Tennis

Reid, M., Morgan, S., & Whiteside, D. (2016). Matchplay characteristics of Grand Slam tennis: implications for training and conditioning. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34, 1791-1798. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1139161

Timmerman, E., de Water, J., Kachel, K., Reid, M., Farrow, D. & Savelsbergh, G. (2015). The effect of equipment scaling on children's sport performance: the case for tennis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 33, 1093-1100. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2014.986498

Published

2018-12-31

How to Cite

Fitzpatrick, A. ., Davids, K. ., & Stone, J. A. (2018). Effects of an 8-week mini tennis coaching intervention on children’s groundstroke performance. ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review, 26(76), 12–16. https://doi.org/10.52383/itfcoaching.v26i76.158

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)