🎾🎯 Hitting in a Circle

A rotational hitting activity where players practise forehands and backhands from a circle.

Perfect for improving consistency, technique, and directional aiming.

🧩 Setup

• Place hitting tees evenly spaced in a large circle around the room/court perimeter (safe spacing between players)
• To the right of each tee, place a rubber dot — this is the hitting position
• In the centre, choose one of the following:
 – Lots of small tubs as target
 – Coaches holding mini-nets in a star shape for kids to aim at
 – Build towers to hit down—see also https://www.summit-tennis.com/games-and-activities/coaches-tower
• Each player has a racket and stands on the dot
• Place a few balls at each tee
• Coaches move around the outside giving technical help

🎤 Coach Script / Game Setup

“Today we’re working on hitting in a big circle! Everyone has their own tee and their own dot. Your job is to hit your ball into the middle — that’s your target zone.
After a few minutes, I’ll shout ‘STOP and COLLECT!’ and we’ll switch to backhands.
Let’s see who can hit with great technique and accuracy!”

🎯 Objective

• Develop clean forehand and backhand technique
• Improve directional hitting
• Encourage repetition, rhythm, and self-paced practice
• Build awareness of aiming for a central target

⏱️ Timing

• 3–6 minutes forehands
• Coach call: “Collect balls — switch to backhands!”
• Move all dots to the right side of the tees for backhand alignment
• 3–6 minutes backhands

🔧 How It Works

1. Players stand on their dot

2. They drop-feed or tee-hit the ball toward the middle

3. Aim for central target (bucket, coach-nets, cones, star shape)

4. Coaches walk the circle correcting technique

5. After the timer, coach calls to rotate setup for backhands

🎾 Teaching Points

(Forehand & Backhand)

✔️ Body Position

• Sideways on
• Front foot pointing slightly toward target

✔️ Swing Shape

• Low → High
• Racquet brushes up the back of the ball
• Finish over shoulder (“superhero cape finish”)

✔️ Contact Point

• Hit the ball in line with the front leg
• Encourage spacing — avoid hitting too close to the body

🧸 Feathers (Make It Easier)

• Add a second marker behind the tee for struggling players →
 “Point your racket at this back marker to set your shoulder turn.”
• Use larger/softer balls (foam or sponge)
• Allow extra bounces or let the ball settle on the tee
• Coach/parent stands behind and supports drop feeds
• Reduce distance to the target by bringing the central cone/bucket closer

🔺 Progressions (Make It Harder)

• Parent / coach drop feed for live timing
• Hit two balls then collect → increases tempo and footwork
• Add a moving target (coach slowly walking with a handheld net)
• Challenge: hit 3 in a row into the middle
• Alternate forehand/backhand at each tee

🛡️ Safety Notes

• Ensure tees are spaced widely so players cannot swing into each other
• Players must only swing on their dot
• Coaches monitor the circle continuously
• Balls should be collected only when coach calls

🏆 End Challenge

“10 balls each — how many can you get into the middle zone?”
or
“Can your whole group hit 20 into the centre before the timer runs out?”