Tennis drills at home for 13 year olds

At a glance

At 13

23 tennis drills the app opens for a 13 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 40 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 60 minutes for a 13 year old.

How often

At most 5 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 13 hours for a 13 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: racket (16 of the 23 drills), soft balls (7), balls (4), tennis ball (3), wall (3), jump rope (1), mirror or window (1), net or rope (1). 11 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

23 at-home drills

Tennis drills for 13 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 13 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

backhand

Backhand

• Backhand Wall RallyAges 7 and up · 12 min
• Parent-Toss BackhandsAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Shadow Backhand SwingsAges 7 and up · 6 min

net play

Net Play

• Backhand Volley CatchAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Forehand Volley CatchAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Ready Position CatchesAges 7 and up · 6 min

serve

Serve

• Overarm Toss to ServeAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Serve Toss ControlAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Trophy Pose and TossAges 7 and up · 8 min

footwork

Footwork

• Jump Rope EnduranceAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Ready Position and HopsAges 7 and up · 6 min

forehand

Forehand

• Forehand Wall RallyAges 7 and up · 12 min
• Toss, Catch, Then SwingAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 38-minute session

A home tennis session for a 13 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 38 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Tennis Warm-Up, Ages 11 to 13A 10-minute moving warm-up for tennis players aged 11 to 13: running, moving stretches, plank, balance, landings and build-up runs, then tennis moves, with a note on growth spurts.10 min
2. 2Ready Position and HopsLight feet, soft knees.6 min
3. 3Overarm Toss to ServeElbow up, reach high, finish across.8 min
4. 4Forehand Volley CatchRacket up, no swing.8 min
5. 5Tennis Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 11 to 13A 6-minute cool-down for tennis players aged 11 to 13 after training: stretches for the legs, hips, wrists and sides, each held 15 to 20 seconds, never to pain, with growth-spurt notes.6 min

At 13

What changes in tennis training at 13

The app opens advanced (level 3) drills at 13.

13 is the first year of advanced drills in SSTracker's age gate.

The app opens the same 23 at-home drills at 13 as at 12; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 13 hours for a 13 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting tennis into a week at 13

At 13 the limit is 13 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 40 minutes is 3.33 hours, which leaves 9.67 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 60 minutes, is 5 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers