Summer ‘25 week six

Now that all of the children had a firm understanding of the groundstrokes—forehand and backhand—we moved on to the next two shots in the game: slices and volleys. The commonality between these two shots is the grip one must use to hit them. So, we focused on continental grip this week.

Because we had two strokes to cover in one week, we skipped our typical review sessions on Monday, and got straight to work. Specifically, we spent the first half of the session, explaining how to hold a racquet so that you are using continental grip. Equally important, was highlighting the difference between this grip and the one the children use for their groundstrokes. Then, coaches finished the sessions by running a drill that forced the students to switch between continental grip and their chosen groundstroke grip, so that they internalized the differences. On Tuesday, we began to work on volleys. Our primary focus was to ensure that the kids kept a short swing, with little to no take-back, and contacted the ball with their weight going forward while using continental grip. To achieve this goal, we ran many hand-feeding drills with kids right on top of the net. On Wednesday, we moved into slices. Using our knowledge of and work with continental grip, coaches informed the kids of the correct swing to use when hitting a slice. We focused on similar things as the volleys: short swings, weight going forward, and cutting under the ball. Again, we did hand-feeding drills. Finally, we wrapped up the week by combining slices and volleys. Specifically, we ran a drill where the kids hit slice approach shots and then came in to hit one volley. This week was an especially tough one for the children because they learned an entirely new grip, but with our sessions coming to an end soon, they eagerly accepted the challenge.