Fun Tennis Games For Beginners

Most tennis games for beginners start with a comfortable and intriguing set of games and drills specifically designed to introduce a tennis beginner to the game.

Tennis games for beginners are not only reserved for children, but can also be practiced by adults first learning how to play tennis.

A tennis beginner first learning how to play tennis is often confused and still learning the rules of tennis, so the games they engage in must slowly introduce them to the finer details of the game.

Tennis is a sport that can be difficult to learn for many beginners. The constant repetition required to learn each stroke can become tedious and boring. Once they feel this way about the sport, they can get turned off and choose to do some other activity instead, or worse, go back to leading sedentary lives. In order to keep their interest level, fun tennis games for beginners have been formulated.

A progression for teaching tennis games for beginners

These tennis games are designed to teach the basics of tennis and develop important skills such as footwork, coordination, court sense and even tactics. At the same time, these games are enjoyable and interactive, enhancing the chance that these beginners stick with the sport until such time that they are proficient enough to play actual matches.

The usual progression of learning to hit the ball goes something like this:

Learning to hit the ball
Learning to hit the ball over the net
Learning to hit the ball over the net with direction
Learning to hit the ball over the net with direction and depth
Learning consistency in rallying
Learning variety and control of spin, depth and trajectory
Learning to hit with power

A Key Part of Tennis Games for Beginners: Learning to Control the Ball

Learning to control the ball is always more fundamental than learning spin and power. Tennis games for beginners are therefore more focused on developing a player’s skill at controlling the ball.

Tennis Game for Beginner #1: The Bucket Game

One of the games that teach this is called the bucket game. In this game, 5 buckets are placed in various locations on each side of the net. The participating players each stand on their respective baselines.

The first player tries to hit 10-20 balls into any of the buckets across the net. If the ball doesn’t cross the net, it is added to the balls that the other player will use. The other player does the same thing. After all balls are hit, each player collects all the balls on his side of the net that didn’t land in any of the buckets.

He collects these balls and tries to hit them into the buckets of the other court. After all balls have been hit into the buckets, they are counted and the player who was able to get the most balls into his opponent’s buckets is declared the winner.

Tennis Game for Beginner #2: The School Game

School is one of the simplest tennis games for beginners. It is actually a serve practice drill. Players start at the service line and try to serve into the service box. Once he or she gets three serves into both service boxes, the player will graduate from kindergarten to grade school. This is around 4 feet behind the service line from where he or she will try to get three serves into both service boxes again.

Middle school is about 8 feet from the service line and high school 12 feet away. College is just inside the baseline. Once the player is able to serve from behind the baseline, the player is said to have graduated from school.

A unique game for beginners teaches them control and consistency and helps them resist the urge to showboat or hit outright winners. In this game, players are paired up but the pairs are positioned on opposite sides of the net facing each other. The teams rally by hitting volleys or half volleys and the pair that can sustain the longest rally is the winner.

Tennis Game for Beginner #3: Rallyball

Tennis games for beginners also have to be fun and some are designed to simulate the way points are played in actual matches. Rallyball is a good game because it can accommodate a lot of players who would otherwise not yet be able to rally the ball normally. Players are divided into two teams. It is a simple game.

One player drop-hits the ball to the other court where the first player from the opposing team tries to hit it back. If the ball is hit out or into the net, the serving team wins the point. If the ball lands in the doubles court, the receiving team wins the point. Roles are reversed for the next point while the players on each team rotate so that everyone will get a chance to hit. The first team to score 25 wins.

Tennis Games for Beginners #4: King of the Court

Kings of the court is one of the most popular tennis games for beginners. This game requires the players to pair up. One pair takes their place at the net on one court. They are the kings, queens, rulers or champions. The other pairs line up behind the baseline on the opposite side of the net.

The kings will drop-hit the ball to the first pair of challengers who will then try to dethrone them by winning the point. If they are successful, they have to run over to the other side of the net to assume their positions as new kings.

Simultaneously, the dethroned kings lob the ball back to the next pair of challengers waiting on the baseline as they run to the back of the line of challengers. If the kings aren’t dethroned, the challengers will simply have to go to the back of their line and let the next pair take a crack at dethroning the kings. There is a version of this game for singles as well.

Tennis Games for Beginners #5: Cross Court Rally

Playing live points is always more enjoyable for players because they get to feel what it is really like to hit the ball under a fair amount of pressure. One of the tennis games for beginners that makes use of playing live points while at the same time developing control and consistency is the simple cross court rally game.

Players play individually against each other in this game. They stand at opposite deuce service boxes and try to rally the ball back and forth using only the forehand. They switch to the ad sides and play only backhands. The first player to score 21 wins.

There are many different ways that this game can be played. You can have students play only forehands, even from the ad court. To keep things interesting and fresh, try to modify the games from time to time.

Tennis Games for Beginners #5: Catch & Throw Game

Some tennis games for beginners combine the sport with other sports like baseball. In one particular game, a group of four players line up on the baseline on one side of the court. Across the net, four players take up their places in the service boxes and inside each corner of the baseline.

One of the net players feeds the ball to the first player in line who will then hit it back. The four players will try to catch the ball on the fly. If the ball is caught, lands outside the lines or hits the net, the hitter is replaced by the next player in the line-up. If the ball is not caught and lands within the boundaries of the court, it is scored as a run and the teams switch sides and roles.

Learning From Tennis Games for Beginners

While these games are designed to be fun, coaches should remember that because they are just beginners, they still need constant guidance and encouragement as well. Coaches must try to see what errors in form each player has and immediately correct these mistakes.

Mistakes with stroke technique and footwork are the most common. However, there are more than one way to hit the ball or move to the ball. Coaches must not be too narrow minded with what they think is the right way to play.

Criticism must always be constructive; otherwise, the player will have a negative impression of what it is like being a tennis player. Once you turn someone away from the game, it is highly doubtful if he or she will ever come back again.

Lastly, coaches must listen and communicate properly with the players. They might have a few good suggestions for some fun beginners’ games as well.

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