tennis for a 3 year old

[Anonymous]

My three year old loves all sports. His new obsession is tennis. We went to the park the other night and a mom and three girls were playing tennis. he ignored all the other kids on the playground equipment and watched fascinated. Every time the ball went off the court he ran off to retrieve it for them. Ever since he has repeatedly asked me to buy him a racquet and tennis balls.

He is pretty coordinated and can hit a pitched softball with a bat so I think he would be able to hit a tennis ball with a racquet. I did a little online looking and found racquets as small as 17 inches whatever that means. there are also stage 1, 2 and 3 balls. I have never heard of these before. According to their descriptions they travel slower than regular tennis balls and also are two toned to help train the eye to watch the spin of the ball. Wow. so much stuff I didn't know and I really don't know where to begin. First off has anyone had positive experience playing tennis with a three year old? I don't want to buy balls and a racquet and have him find it too frustrating. What about the size of the racquet? My kid is on the small size for three year olds. But of course it would be nice if it lasted a few years. Any other pieces of advice? thanks!

[Anonymous]

My son has a small tennis raquet (babolat nadal jr 19 in maybe?) and likes to hit the red/yellow balls. They are softer, slightly larger and easier to learn with for sure. He just hits with me or DH and enjoys it. No lessons yet. Check with that tennis store in Glover Park- they know of teachers who specialize in young kids.

[Anonymous]

Pp here. DS is 3 and smallish, too, but pretty strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My three year old loves all sports. His new obsession is tennis. We went to the park the other night and a mom and three girls were playing tennis. he ignored all the other kids on the playground equipment and watched fascinated. Every time the ball went off the court he ran off to retrieve it for them. Ever since he has repeatedly asked me to buy him a racquet and tennis balls.

He is pretty coordinated and can hit a pitched softball with a bat so I think he would be able to hit a tennis ball with a racquet. I did a little online looking and found racquets as small as 17 inches whatever that means. there are also stage 1, 2 and 3 balls. I have never heard of these before. According to their descriptions they travel slower than regular tennis balls and also are two toned to help train the eye to watch the spin of the ball. Wow. so much stuff I didn't know and I really don't know where to begin. First off has anyone had positive experience playing tennis with a three year old? I don't want to buy balls and a racquet and have him find it too frustrating. What about the size of the racquet? My kid is on the small size for three year olds. But of course it would be nice if it lasted a few years. Any other pieces of advice? thanks!

We bought a tennis set for our then 2.5 yr old, a kid's size racquest and tennis balls (spongy softball sized balls) i think we bought them at target. Now he's 3.5 yrs old and still hits around, i would bounce the balls to him and he would hit it in the basement of our house. We took him once to a tennis court but he was too young back then and not ready. He's on the small size too. But the little racquet and those big spongy balls are great for that age.

i think we will wait until he gets to be at least 4 or 5 before we start hitting with real balls on the tennis court. This is coming from a dad who played competitive tennis growing up and in high school so it's going to be fun for me to start him in tennis if he's interested along with other sports.

[Anonymous]

My son has been taking tennis lessons since he was 3 and he's 4 now. The kids in his class ranged from 3-5 and none had any issues holding the racket with one hand. They also use the yellow and red balls. I'm not sure where you're located, but Reston built child-size courts last year and the kids have a blast hitting the ball over the net. They don't actually play against other kids at this age; just learning skills like shuffling, correct way to hold a racket, and lots of cute games.

[Anonymous]

Not sure where you're located, but FFX county rec centers offer tennis for 3-5 year olds. I know there are classes at Audrey Moore.

[Anonymous]

Wiffle balls work well along with the red and yellow Wilson ones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son has been taking tennis lessons since he was 3 and he's 4 now. The kids in his class ranged from 3-5 and none had any issues holding the racket with one hand. They also use the yellow and red balls. I'm not sure where you're located, but Reston built child-size courts last year and the kids have a blast hitting the ball over the net. They don't actually play against other kids at this age; just learning skills like shuffling, correct way to hold a racket, and lots of cute games.

where in reston?

[Anonymous]

Anywhere in moco?