tennis4kids & Ball School Heidelberg

The Kidstennis ABC is an innovative teaching concept for children aged 4 to 11. It is based on the joint concepts of Michael Ebert, MSc. (founder of tennis4kids) and Prof. Dr. Klaus Roth (founder of the Ball School Heidelberg), which were developed and published as part of the successful Ball School Tennis book project. The Children’s Tennis ABC uniquely combines tennis4kids’ decades of successful experience in developing children’s tennis programs with the scientifically evaluated concept of the Heidelberg Ball School.

From a playful start to the transition to youth tennis, the ABC of children’s tennis is based on the simple formula “from the general to the specific” and takes into account a versatile development of the children at the beginning instead of an early specialization. The tennis-specific training follows clear, easy-to-understand principles, particularly with regard to holistic development, systematic game development on smaller courts with slower red-orange-green balls and a racket length that is sensibly adapted to the child’s height. Right from the start, the focus is on children playing with each other and introducing them to the actual aim of the game – playing for points.

The Kidstennis ABC not only provides the theoretical concepts, but also training programs that have been tried and tested over many years to achieve the defined learning goals. This provides trainers, coaches, parents and children with a structured, comprehensible way of systematically training children in tennis in line with their development. The step-by-step development, in conjunction with sensible training planning taking into account biological development, resilience and performance in childhood and adolescence, as well as a child-friendly tournament concept that focuses on the acquisition of important playing skills, enable a safe introduction to competitive tennis.