QuickStart helps spread area tennis

Over the years, the United States Tennis Association has seen the popularity of its sport overshadowed by the “big three” American sports - baseball, basketball, and football. Add golf, soccer, and lacrosse to the mix, and even factor in extreme sports such as skateboarding and motor sports that have been on the rise as attractive outlets for today’s youth.

As a result, the USTA had no choice but to come up with an innovative way to teach tennis to children at an early age that would allow the students to enjoy and understand it.

Enter QuickStart Tennis, a format designed by the USTA to present the game in a kid-friendly way - playing on smaller courts, using larger tennis balls and rackets, a lower net, and an easy scoring system. QuickStart is intended for elementary school children age 10 and under and coaches, instructors and professionals that have participated are raving about the possibilities.

Locally, the Charlottesville Area Tennis Association (CATA), an all-volunteer tennis association that has helped the sport grow in Central Virginia, has hopped on board. CATA QuickStart Coordinator Lynda Harrill launched the “Jump Start QuickStart Tennis Initiative” in December 2008, an effort to train teachers, parents and community volunteers how to teach the program in Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s public schools, as well as in the surrounding counties. The goal is to have enough instructors in place to present QuickStart to 16,000 kids in 42 elementary schools in seven counties over the next three years. As it stands, Harrill is well on her way.

“Last February, Patrick Kearns, who is the head pro at Farmington and was on the board for USTA Virginia at the time, arranged for two USTA guys to come and give us a sneak preview,” Harrill said. “The minute I saw it, I said, ‘They’ve finally figured it out.’

Harrill admitted that she participated in traditional clinics growing up, where she would wait in a line, hit or miss a ball or two, and then return to the end of the line and not really accomplish what is possible with QuickStart.

“You never really figured it out, and it wasn’t fun,” Harrill said. “Well now with QuickStart, everything is kid-sized and age-appropriate, but the best part is that you can take a kid who has never held a racket in his or her hand, and in 30 minutes I can have them rallying.”

One of QuickStart’s main techniques is referred to as “Instant Rally Progression,” where hand-eye coordination progressively meshes with familiarity of a forehand and backhand grip. Six QuickStart courts can be used on one regulation court, which means that 24 kids can use one standard-sized court and not be in anyone else’s way.

QuickStart is already being taught to Albemarle County students, as the county’s physical education teachers were the first in the area to be trained last March. A few months ago, CATA held a similar training session for P.E. teachers from Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson and Orange counties, as well as the city of Charlottesville. When school is out and summer arrives, several Parks and Recreation departments will implement QuickStart as well.

On Thursday, Harrill and the CATA got together with the Tennis Industry Association’s Cardio Tennis Initiative and the Club Red Clinic at the University of Virginia to host an unprecedented Cardio Tennis fundraiser clinic for Jump Start at Boar’s Head Sports Club. Members from Club Red teamed up with Boar’s Head members and a few WTA professionals in town for this week’s Boyd Tinsley Tournament on Thursday evening to have some fun and learn some valuable health information while contributing to the Jump Start program.

USPTA master professional Feisal Hassan, a national trainer for the Cardio Tennis Initiative, came from Midlothian to lead the high-energy workout, which included such activities as bouncing balls back and forth to a partner while running, jumping jacks, jogging around the court and in place, and returning overhead shots, ground strokes and volleys from one side of the court to the other.

“It doesn’t matter the skill level you are - everybody down there has a smile on their face,” Harrill said while watching the high-impact action. “I think we have woman out there who hasn’t picked up a racket in 30 years; if this brings her back to the sport of tennis, that suits me fine. We had 27 participants this year, next year I want 100.”

All proceeds from the clinic will go toward the purchase of QuickStart equipment for area schoolteachers and kids.