Grattan Playground Kids Club
Grattan Playground Kids Club
Welcome to ANTS Tennis at Grattan Playground!
Classes will be held at the Grattan Playground tennis courts on Tuesdays from Jan 21st - April 14th, 2020 from 3:15 - 4:15 pm (12 weeks, no class on 3/31 for spring break). If your child attends Grattan, Serena Unger, or another Grattan parent volunteer, will gather the children from GASP at 3:10pm, walk them to the courts, and if need be, take them back to Grattan after class ends at 4:15pm.
Join in on the fun of learning and playing tennis after school with both your classmates and friends! Our aim is to foster positive development in both the game of tennis and adventure of life!
Registration Includes:
ANTS Trained and Qualified Coaches. ANTS coaches focus on your child being safe and having FUN first! Second, ANTS coaches focus on having your child learn the game and get up to speed to play tennis! Coach Maria and Coach Vivian will be leading the Grattan class this spring.
Progressive Curriculum: We teach the fundamentals of tennis through fun games, individual work, and partner work!
ANTS size Nets and Courts. ANTS courts are smaller and age appropriate! We bring all the equipment to the playground.
ANTS Racquets (for extra cost). Your child will be assigned a racquet that fits him/her if purchased through ANTS. NO oversized racquets in ANTS Tennis! This makes it easier for you child to learn to swing and play!
ANTS Tennis Balls. We utilize larger balls that bounce and travel slower, making it possible for your child to play REAL tennis!
ANTS Racquets:
All children registering for ANTS Tennis are required to have an age-appropriate racquet. If your child does not have an appropriately sized racquet, simply respond "yes my child needs a racquet" during registration and we'll provide your child with a racquet that fits him/her!
ANTS age-appropriate racquets cost $30.
Dates and Times for 2020 Spring Session:
Dates: Tuesdays from Jan 21st - April 14th (12 weeks)
No class on March 31st (spring break)
Times: 3:15-4:15pm
***Kids will be picked up from GASP, and if need be, dropped back off after class.
Important: In the event of rain days, we will do our best to notify you in a timely manner if class can not be held. In the event of a necessary cancellation, we will first offer a make-up day. If we are not able to hold a make up day then you will be refunded the pro-rated amount of missed class.
Additional Information:
ANTS uses modified equipment that has been adopted by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and other tennis federations all across the globe. It is a progressive system of modifications (court size, net, ball pressure, and racquet size) that are meant to help children not only learn the game faster and in a more successful fun oriented atmosphere, but also to improve the quality of their learning progression. The empirical evidence of using such equipment is in the ATP (professional) rankings. Countries who have utilized modified equipment over the last decades are the countries that are dominating the rankings, and they are doing so because of two things
1) By teaching kids with the correctly sized equipment, they are able to teach them quality from the beginning rather than having to correct bad habits and form due to playing with/or on oversize equipment. Therefore they can focus more on practice AND play, rather than just practice. We all know you learn the most through play! A great example is the following Field Of Dream video.
2) More kids are playing the game of tennis and are sticking with it. Countries with a strong progressive system have retention rates in tennis as high as the next most popular youth sport (soccer). They are able to do so because the children can now not only learn tennis is a better fashion (as mentioned above) but they can also begin to play it at an earlier age. You can see such evidence by watching the national championship video here. These kids are playing the best tennis possible, because of the fact they are playing on courts that are meant for their size! Just because they are good, doesn’t mean they need to move up on to a different court, rather they need to learn all of the layers of the game that exist.
Our coaches are all trained to develop the overall agility, balance, and coordination (ABC’s) of the athlete, as well as the tennis specifics needed for your child to get better. Tennis is a sport of depth and layers and it takes time to put all of them together and our philosophy is to have them play and use the depth and layer(s) they currently have, while continually developing their parallel skills.
Brief breakdown of ANTS Curriculum and Equipment:
Kindergarten:
Curriculum and equipment that is focused on the ABC’s (agility, balance, coordination) of the player, strong fundamental development, and having fun!. They will learn how to send and receive, track, move to, and hit, the ball! We always maintain a fun and supportive environment.
Equipment:
18' Net
36' Court
Red Foam Balls
19" Racquets
ANTS EZ Rules & Scoring
1st-3rd:
Curriculum and equipment that is focused on the ABC’s (agility, balance, coordination) of the player, but also designed to help them learn all of the fundamental elements that are necessary to begin to play and compete in a healthy, fun environment. They will learn everything from boundaries, footwork, and strokes to scoring, sportsmanship and etiquette! Always fun and supportive!
Equipment:
18' Net
36' Court
Red Foam Balls
21-23" Racquets
ANTS EZ Rules & Scoring
4th-7th:
Curriculum and equipment that is focused on the ABC’s (agility, balance, coordination) of the player, but also designed to help them get up to playing and competing speed with solid fundamentals as soon as possible. With more drills designed for higher intensity practice and play. Always geared towards having fun and staying positive both when practicing and competing.
Equipment:
18' Net
60' Court
Red Felt or Orange Low Compression Balls
25" Racquets
Normal Rules and Scoring
