Coach’s Towers 🏰
🎾 Forehand & Backhand Target Game
Ages: 3–10 (Tots, Titans, Troopers)
Focus: Directional hitting, technical shapes (low to high), forehands, backhands, imaginative targets
🧠 SETUP:
Place hitting tees in a line or circle.
Add floor dots to the left side of each tee (for forehands). Later switch to the right side (for backhands).
Coaches build “Towers” at safe distances across from each hitting station using:
Traffic cones (tessellated 4-cone pyramids or tall stacks with discs).
Optional: soft balancing objects on top (scarves, balls, plushies).
Each coach stands proudly by their tower — this is now “their fortress” to protect!
🪶 FEATHERS (Under 3s / Beginner Tots):
Children begin up close.
A coach or parent helps guide their racket to gently hit a ball off the tee.
The child aims to knock any part of the tower over.
Celebrate every success with a dramatic coach reaction:
“Hey! That was my tower! How dare you!” 😂
🎾 MAIN GAME (Coach’s Towers):
Kids line up on floor dots and take turns hitting forehands from the tee.
Each tries to knock down the coach’s tower across the court.
Coaches act outraged, shouting in jest:
“Nooo! Not my tower!” 🗣️
“That’s the best tower in Sussex!”After a few minutes, move dots to the other side to focus on backhands.
Encourage:
Side-on stance
Low-to-high swing path
Contact in front
🚀 PROGRESSIONS:
Remove the tee: try drop feeds or parent feeds.
Use cones as bonus targets or assign points to each tower.
Introduce "power up" balls like red foam balls for higher reward.
For older children:
Try live feeds + one shot only per go — knock it or miss it!
👻 SEASONAL ALTERNATIVES:
🎃 Halloween – Haunted Tower Edition
Each tower becomes a ghost’s haunted house 🏚️
Top them with scarves, googly eyes, or balloons as ghost heads 👻
When children knock them down, coaches wail:
“Noooo! The ghost is free!”Add “Monster Mode”: Coaches throw ghost scarves at players between turns!
🎅 Christmas – Santa’s Stack
Towers = gift stacks or chimney piles 🎁🎄
Kids help Santa knock down the stuck presents before Christmas Eve
Add jingle bells or decorate towers with wrapping paper!
🐣 Easter – Egg Tower Smash
Towers = egg crates or nesting towers
Children must “rescue the chick” by knocking down the egg towers 🐥
Add small Easter eggs or chicks on top.
💘 Valentine’s – Love Tower Toss
Towers represent love letters stacked in a post box 💌
Add heart stickers or balloons — when they’re knocked over, coaches cry:
“Not my Valentine’s mail!”