ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues - Parent Guide

ANZ Hot Shots Leagues

Parent Information Guide

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Welcome ANZ Tennis Hot Shots (ANZTHS) Leagues is a exciting junior competition for kids aged 7-­‐11yrs. ANZTHS Leagues encourage kids to take their first positive step into team based competition in a fun, friendly environment.

Sporsci Tennis Academy and our members clubs and volunteers are key drivers to the success of ANTHS Leagues and we believe it is important that you have an understanding of the leagues and the game of tennis.

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots The ANZTHS program is Tennis Australia’s official development program for primary aged children. At the core of the program is an innovative, practical philosophy called ‘Learning through play’. This means that playing the game of tennis, or modified versions of the game, is the central feature of all sessions. The use of tailored equipment including smaller courts, racquets and low-­‐ compression tennis balls ensures children are introduced to tennis in an environment that is suited to their age and skill level. This approach makes learning tennis fun and easier and the result is more children playing a better standard of tennis.

With the growth of the ANZTHS program, it is critical that these children are transitioned into the club and competition structure. ANZTHS is the perfect platform to get kids playing for clubs and centres in local competitions.

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What are ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues?

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues (ANZTHS Leagues) are the perfect way for kids to experience team tennis for the first time in a fun, friendly and modified environment designed to make playing tennis as easy as possible.

Key features of ANZTHS Leagues are: • Local competition delivered by your club, coach or association • Time Friendly formats with defined start and finish times • Shortened match format so kids get to play more matches • Smaller courts, racquets and softer balls to suit your child’s relevant skill level • On-­‐court parent participation

ABOUT: ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues provide children with a quality first competitive team tennis experience.

There are three leagues that cater for players of different standards – 8/U Red Ball League, the 10/U Orange Ball League and the 12/U Green Ball League.

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Red Ball League (5–8 year olds) The ANZTHS red ball league is aimed at children who are beginning to play the sport and have d eveloped an understanding of tennis through ANZTHS Coaching, Community Play or at their local school.

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Orange Ball League (7–10 year olds) The ANZTHS orange ball league is aimed at children who have gained some experience to play the sport and have developed an understanding of tennis through ANZTHS Coaching, or have progressed from an ANZTHS red ball league.

ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Green Ball League (9–12 year olds) The ANZTHS green ball league is aimed at children who have experience in playing the sport and have developed an understanding of tennis through participating regularly in ANZTHS coaching, or have progressed from an ANZTHS orange ball league.

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As a Parent what is my role in ANZTHS Leagues?

ANZTHS League coordinators and Sporsci Tennis Academy encourage all parents to get involved and take up a role in their league. Parent involvement is a key component in the success of the program and development of each child involved in ANZTHS Leagues.

Through parent involvement in the leagues you have the opportunity to make new friends, learn about the game of tennis and have fun participating with your child. Parents play a key role in creating an environment that is fun, safe and family friendly at all ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues venues. Parents can get involved and contribute in many way and the following roles are examples:

Team/ Player Coordinator (Parent/Volunteer): The role of the Team Coordinator is to support the League and Club Coordinator and team players by: • Helping set-­‐up and pack-­‐up equipment • Allocating on court supervisors and helpers (i.e. parent/guardian) for each match to oversee the court.

• Ensure all scores have been recorded for the individual rubbers on each score sheet from each court • A team coordinator can also play a part as court supervisor or helper

Court Supervisor (Parent/Volunteer): The role of the Court Supervisor is to support the team / player coordinator and team players by: • Standing on-­‐court and assisting with scoring, player rotations and court positions • Making sure the court environment is safe, such as getting players to move balls off court, ensuring players do not run on to the other court to collect balls during play • Reinforcing the “Be a good sport” messages • Help set up equipment and courts if required • Please note that Court Supervisors are there to assist the players and at no time should physically walk onto the playing area to address a player unless they are injured or another

There may be a number of other roles in which you can take up at your local ANZTHS League so make sure you chat to your League Coordinator about getting involved.

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“ ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues was the best experience for both my child and I, we both learnt about the game, and my child’s improvement was amazing” -­‐ Rebecca (Parent)

“I really like it when mum & dad help with scoring, they always say good shot and get excited when I play” -­‐ Mitchell 8yrs

Who supervises the kids when they are playing?

A League Coordinator is responsible for the overall running of the league. This may be your child’s club coach, assistant coach, parent or member of your local tennis club. Their role is to organize the administration of the competition entering results, court allocations, putting teams together and the overall supervision of the competition on game day.

Parents and volunteers also play a key role in the supervision of participants on game day and are always encouraged to get involved and help out the league coordinator.

It doesn’t matter if you have no tennis experience, and or not sure on the rules and how to score, each club and league has resources such as scoring pads which make it easy for you to get involved.

Kids also LOVE having there parents on court helping with scoring.

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What courts and balls do they use?

ANZTHS Red Ball League (5 -­‐8 years)

Red ball leagues will operate on a court 18m long x 6.5m wide (see court in diagram). The reduced court size is fundamental in offering children the opportunity to play an all court game and enjoy the sport relevant to their age and ability. Along with the reduced court size the net height is 80cm.

The Red Ball has 25% compression of a yellow ball.

“Red Ball Leagues are a great way to learn to rally and score through modified formats”

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What courts and balls do they use?..... Continued

ANZTHS Orange Ball League (7-­‐10 years)

Orange ball leagues will operate on a court 18m long x 6.5m wide (see singles court in diagram). The reduced court size is fundamental in offering children the opportunity to play an all court game and enjoy the sport relevant to their age and ability. Along with the reduced court size the net will be lowered to 80cm.

Orange ball doubles matches use the traditional singles sidelines.

The Orange Ball has 50% compression of a yellow ball.

“My child loves the challenge of Orange Ball, they are beginning to understand the space and skills to play the game”

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What courts and balls do they use?..... Continued

ANZTHS Green Ball League (9-­‐11 years)

Green ball leagues will operate on a full size tennis court.

Doubles matches will be played using the traditional doubles sidelines.

The green ball has 75% compression of a yellow ball.

“Jackson thrived in the ANZTHS environment and now has worked his way through to levels to play Green Ball, next stops full competition”

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How do they score and how can I help?

Each game in ANZTHS Leagues uses traditional tennis scoring which is slightly modified.

1 point = 15 2 points = 30 3 points = 40 4 points = Game No Add Deuce: -­‐ When the score get to Deuce (40-­‐40) the winner of the next point, wins the game.

-­‐ The receiver get the choice which side they would like to return serve from -­‐ At the end of every odd numbered game e.g.

1-­‐0, 2-­‐1 the players must change ends

Parent and volunteer court supervisors can assist kids with scoring by ensuring that the players call the score out at the start of each point, starting with the scorers score first. If kids are having trouble remembering the score the court supervisor can then hint the score to the players.

All parents and volunteers are encouraged to allow kids to score and play matches themselves. This can be done effectively by asking prompting questions to participants such as “What is the Score?”, “What do we do at the end of the first game?” and “was that out or on the line?”. Asking these questions will allow children to develop and teach themselves the game of tennis.

If kids are struggling to remember the score then give them other opportunities to work it out. Eg. “What are you on if you have won 2 points?” or “The score was 30-­‐0, but the returners won the last point, so what does that make it?”

Line Calling ANZTHS Leagues Players are encouraged to make their own line calls. Parents and Volunteers as court supervisor should be encouraging this and ensuring kid’s calls are loud and correct. If the player is unsure whether the ball landed in or out, then the court supervisor can then help out the child with explaining where the ball bounced and if it was in or out

SCORING: “We have resources to help you with scoring and gaining knowledge of the rules”

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How long do the kids play for?

All matches in ANZTHS Leagues have a recommended time limit. This may differ at each ANZTHS League depending on time available but is aimed at keeping matches short and kids engaged in playing the sport.

Red Ball League: ·∙ Recommended time limit= 15mins p er match OR Best of 16 points ·∙ As a result of the timed matches, a day’s play will last for 45 minutes.

Orange Ball League: ·∙ Recommended time limit= 20mins per match OR ·∙ First player to get to 4 games ·∙ As a result of the timed matches, a day’s play will last for 1 hour Green Ball League: ·∙ Recommended time Limit= Max. 20mins p er match or ·∙ First player to get to 4 games ·∙ As a result of the timed matches, a day’s play will last for 1 hour.

Possible Scores: Due to the time limit some matches may stop before the players reach 4. For example the score could be 4/2 or 4/1 in a completed match or 2/2 or 3/0 in a non-­‐ completed match.

Your ANZTHS Leagues coordinator will inform you about all information relating to time and scoring formats.

What happens if kids aren’t very good at serving?

If a player isn’t the strongest serve they can still play ANZTHS Leagues. There are a number of different modifications, which makes serving easier for all players.

Red Ball League: ·∙ First serve Players should try an overarm from the modified baseline ·∙ Second serve If the player is confident they can hit the second serve in from the modified baseline then they can serve overarm from there for their second serve. Player can also choose to move forward to the service line and drop hit the ball into the service b ox. ·∙ Third Serve If both players are struggling to get the ball in, a third serve may be introduced. This will be the same process as the second serve and the player should be encouraged to serve underarm from the service line

Orange Ball League: ·∙ First serve Players should try an overarm from the modified baseline ·∙ Second serve If the player is confident they can hit the overarm second serve in from the modified baseline or they can drop hit the ball into the service b ox.

Green Ball League: ·∙ Both serves have to be overarm and hit from the b aseline

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“ANZ Hot Shot Leagues lets me practice what my coach teaches me in lessons, and I am able to play with friends and make new friends each week. I can’t wait until the weekend to play” -­‐ Katrina (10yrs)

“ANZ Hot Shots Leagues teaches kids where to stand, the rules and how to score, and most of all its fun!”

-­‐ John (parent)

Where do players position themselves in singles and doubles?

Part of the role of the court supervisor is to assist the players in their positioning on the court. The server must be standing behind the baseline, without their foot touching any part of it when they serve and the returner n eeds to be correctly positioned to return the serve.

During a doubles game the players need to b e positioned in the correct positions before the point starts and move the correct way between points as indicated by the diagrams below.

S= Server SP= Servers Partner R= Returner RP= Returners Partner

The diagram b elow demonstrates p layer set up serving to the forehand side in a doubles match

R RP SP S

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What are some important rules which I need to know?

Sporsci Tennis Academy understands that some parents and volunteers may not know all the specific rules of tennis. Some of the not well known rules are listed below: • •

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If a player hits a return of serve on the full without the ball bouncing, the server gets the point.

During doubles once a players chooses a side to return on, they can’t change for the remainder of the set. For example if Player A chooses to return on the Deuce side (right hand side) then they can’t move to the Advantage side (left hand side) for the next return game.

At the end of every odd numbered total game (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 etc.), the players change ends. This means the score could be 1/0, 2/1, 3/0, 3/2.

Whenever one of the more complex rules has been broken, parents should educate the players about the rule firstly by asking questions. For example: “What happens when you hit the return on the full?”

*Remember that ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Leagues is in many cases a child’s first competitive tennis experience; take the opportunity to teach participants the game of tennis and educate them through practical examples that they can relate to.

What should I say to participants after a match?

After the kids have finished playing, parents and volunteers should always be positive towards all players, not focusing on who won or lost. Remembering that ANZTHS Leagues is all about exposing kids to a fun, friendly environment and learning how to play the game of tennis.

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“Be a good sport” messages

The aim of ANZTHS Leagues is to build social skills such as working cooperatively with a partner, encouraging team mates and showing sportsmanship during game play. The “Be a good sport” messages reflect this objective.

To get the good sport message through to the kids effectively, League Coordinators, parents and volunteers should work together and introduce themed weeks with a focus for the kids to focus on each week of competition.

Week 1-­‐ Shake hands with your opponent at the end of each rubber When shaking h ands: ·∙ Look your opponent in the eye ·∙ Have a firm hand shake ·∙ Use the player’s name and thank them for the match Week 2-­‐ Call the lines fairly When calling lines: ·∙ Each player is responsible for calling the lines on his/her side of the court ·∙ If the b all lands on the line it is in ·∙ If the b all is “out” or a “fault”, calls should be made just after the ball has b ounced. ·∙ If the b all is close to the line, give your opponent the benefit of the doubt and play the b all as “in” Week 3-­‐ Give your best effort Giving your best effort means ·∙ Trying to hit every ball in the court ·∙ Running hard to reach shots ·∙ Concentrating during the match Week 4-­‐ Call the score clearly When calling the score: ·∙ The server is responsible for calling the score ·∙ Make sure your voice is loud enough for your opponent to hear ·∙ The server’s score is called first ·∙ It is a good idea to call the score after each point to help both players remember the score.

Week 5-­‐ Be a good teammate ·∙ Encourage your partner ·∙ During doubles, collect the balls and return them to your partner when they are serving ·∙ Congratulate your partner if they hit a good shot or give their best effort during a point Week 6-­‐ Respect your opponent Respecting your opponent means: ·∙ Calling the lines fairly at your end of the court ·∙ Accepting the line calls of your opponent ·∙ Congratulating your opponent if they hit a winning shot ·∙ Saying something positive to your opponent after the rubber (win or lose)

Sporsci Tennis Academy PO Box 2437 Melton South, VIC, 3338 www.sporscitennis.com.au