summer ‘25 week four

During Week 4 we shifted our focus from forehands to backhands. On Monday we reviewed prior skills from the past week, to ensure the children had not lost their progress from the weekend. As a result of their great focus and cooperation, we rewarded them with some games to end our first day back. On Tuesday, we really went into the knit-and-grit of the backhand by showing the benefits of both a one-handed and two-handed shot. We spent most of the lesson working on the technical aspect of the backhand, ensuring that the children had the correct hand position to properly hit the ball. We finished Tuesday with some hand-feeding in order to help them put all the pieces together. On Wednesday, we went straight into hand-feeding focusing on three key points: first, making sure the children drop their shoulders appropriately before hitting the ball, second, dropping the racquet before contact to generate topspin, and finally making contact at the center of the racquet face and in front of their bodies to improve accuracy and add power to their shots. Ultimately, we spent the entire lesson on these drills to reinforce repetition and help build muscle memory. On Thursday, to wrap up the week, we compiled everything learned into a series of drills, even including more advanced stuff like backhand directionality, including down-the-line and cross-court shorts. Afterwards, we ended by playing some games to reward and thank the children for their hard work and determination. Overall, we were thrilled to see the progress the children have made, and can’t wait to see more improvement in the coming weeks!