Tennis drills at home for 14 year olds

At a glance

At 14

24 tennis drills the app opens for a 14 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 14 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 14 hours for a 14 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: racket (16 of the 24 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.

24 at-home drills

Tennis drills for 14 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 14 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

• High Forehand VolleyAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Low Backhand VolleyAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Volley Keep-Up MinutesAges 11 and up · 10 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 40-minute session

A home tennis session for a 14 year old

A warm-up, 2 drills and a cool-down, 40 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Tennis Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for tennis players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then tennis moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Serve Toss ControlSame toss, every time.8 min
3. 3Forehand Wall RallyTurn early, swing low to high.12 min
4. 4Tennis Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for tennis players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, wrists and sides, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 14

What changes in tennis training at 14

14 is when the app opens box jumps and drills with contact, for practice with a coach. Neither is ever in an at-home plan.

1 at-home drills join the list at 14.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 14 hours for a 14 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting tennis into a week at 14

At 14 the limit is 14 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 10.67 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