Tennis Training Program for Elementary Schools in Japan

Index
1. Meet Jinji Tennis Center
2. What We Propose
3. About the Jinji Program
4. Fitness for Kids
5. Why Do Kids Need Tennis?

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3. About the Jinji Program

Program by Age Groups

Age 6-8: Emphasis is placed on watching the ball, getting comfortable holding the racket, making proper contact with the tennis ball, and basic techniques for forehands, backhands, volleys, and donkey drop serves. Mini-court tennis is played with low-pressure tennis balls.

Age 8-9: Further development of basic techniques, more movement and placement-oriented drills, basic ball toss and serve techniques, and learning to use tennis terminology. Mini-court and full court tennis are played with low-pressure tennis balls.

Age 9-12: Further development of all strokes, with more emphasis on full court play, and working on racquet control, ball placement and spin. The tennis drills are more oriented towards keeping the ball in play while changing the depth, height and power of the shots but also building consistency in each student's game. Full court tennis is played with regular tennis balls.

Basic Proposal

Jinji's junior group lessons are aimed at children with a keen interest in taking part in tennis education. Our goal is to build on this interest by making tennis fun but challenging while helping each child build his or her own self confidence. We place specific interest on eye-hand coordination, basic techniques, teamwork, motor skills, and muscle flexibility and development.

An important aspect of the Jinji plan is the flexibility to customize the program to fit for your school’s unique needs. For Tokyo International School, for example, we devised a regime of 1-hour lessons on Tuesdays for students aged 6-8, another 1-hour lesson on Thursdays for students aged 9-12, and an optional 1-hour lesson on Saturdays for any student who wants it.

There are any number of options Jinji can make available to your school. The chart below provides a basic guideline for consideration and discussion. The basic term for the program is one semester (10 weeks), but Jinji can extend or otherwise adjust the lesson plan to fit your school's needs.
Through experience, Jinji has determined that from the start, two lessons a day for a week is effective. Students who want more can attend Jinji's weekend lessons at Tokyo International School. If enough students at your school desire more, the number of daily lessons can be increase to three or four. In general, however, we provide two classes (for 1st to 3rd graders and 4th to 6th graders, respectively) or three classes (for 1st and 2nd graders, 3rd and 4th graders, and 5th and 6th graders, respectively).

Two classes (1st to 3rd grade and 4th to 6th grade)

lessons a week	days a week	a lesson min		day total	week total	month total
		1 to 3 grade	4 to 6 grade
1	1	60min	80min	140min	140min	560min
	2	60min		60min	140min	560min
			80min	80min
2	2	60min	80min	140min	280min	1120min

Three classes (1st and 2nd grade, 3rd and 4th grade, 5th and 6th grade)

lessons a week	days a week	a lesson min			day total	week total	month total
		1/2 grade	3/4 grade	5/6 grade
1	1	60min	70min	80min	210min	210min	840min
	2	60min	70min		130min	210min	840min
				80min	80min
2	2	60min	70min	80min	210min	420min	1680min

 

Safety Issues

Jinji Tennis Center staff members focus on safe educational techniques as a top priority in order to ensure each child's safety and enjoyment.

One characteristic is to keep the staff-to-student ratio as low as possible. On average this ratio is kept between 5:1 and 7:1. This low ratio ensures that each child is kept out harm’s way and subsequently has a better tennis learning experience.

Since school insurance does not cover medical attention during weekend activities, Jinji insists upon some parents staying inside the school grounds to help us attend to students' safety needs.