What age do you start juniors?

It depends more on the individual child than the number. Around five is workable for many kids. Tell me your child's age and experience and I will be straight with you about whether it is a good time to start.

Does my child need a special racquet?

Younger children need a shorter junior racquet, sized to their height rather than their age. Mention their height in your request if you are unsure what to buy.

Should parents stay and watch?

You are welcome to. Some kids focus better with a parent nearby, others do not. You know yours best, and for young children someone should be reachable at the court.

Can siblings share a lesson?

Yes, at the semi-private rate of $65 each. It works well when the age gap is small, and I will tell you honestly if it does not suit the two of them.

Can you prepare a junior for school tennis or tournaments?

Yes. Say so when you book, because competitive preparation changes the balance between technique, fitness and match play.

How often should a junior have lessons?

Once a week keeps a young child engaged. Juniors who are competing generally need more court time than that, with some of it outside lessons.

Junior Tennis

Kids tennis lessons in Los Angeles for juniors and teens

Coaching built around the age, size and attention span of the kid actually standing on the court.

Good children's tennis lessons start from the age of the player. A seven year old and a fifteen year old need almost nothing in common from a tennis lesson. The younger one needs coordination, contact and a session that feels like a game. The older one can handle real technical work, structured point play and honest feedback.

What stays the same across both is the priority order: proper habits first, consistency second, power a long way last. Power added to a bad habit just makes the habit harder to remove later.

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03By age and stage

Ages 5 to 8: Coordination, contact and short-court games. Success is measured in rallies made and whether they want to come back.
Ages 9 to 12: Full-court transition, real groundstroke shape, serve fundamentals and the first structured point play.
Teens: Technical refinement, rally tolerance, serve development, match situations and school or tournament preparation.

01In detail

The first lesson with a young child

Nothing gets explained for more than about twenty seconds at a time. Young kids learn tennis by hitting balls, catching balls, and playing small games with a target, not by listening to a description of a unit turn.

Expect a lot of short-court work. A smaller space means more successful contacts per minute, and a child who makes contact keeps wanting to play.

Teens and the point where it gets serious

Somewhere around twelve or thirteen, a junior who enjoys the game usually wants more than fundamentals. That is when serve mechanics, rally tolerance and match situations become the bulk of the session, and when practice between lessons starts to matter more than the lesson itself.

If your teen is thinking about school tennis or junior tournaments, say so in the request. It changes what we build and how quickly.

What I ask of parents

Show up, and keep the car ride afterwards about whether it was fun. Kids who feel evaluated after every session lose interest quickly, and interest is the only thing that survives long enough to produce a good player.

02The session

How a junior session runs

Shorter blocks than an adult lesson, because attention is the limiting factor and there is no point pretending otherwise.

01
First 5 minutes
Movement warmup
Footwork and reaction games with a ball involved. It doubles as a warmup and as a read on how the kid is doing that day.
02
Next 15 minutes
Contact and control
Short-court rallying and feeds with a target. Lots of successful contacts, which is what builds confidence at this age.
03
Next 20 minutes
One skill
A single technical focus, taught through a game rather than a lecture. Serve, volley or a groundstroke shape.
04
Last 20 minutes
Play and compete
Scored games, targets and rally challenges. Kids remember the part where they won something.

04Who it's for

First-time young players
Kids who have had a few lessons elsewhere
Teens who play socially and want structure
Siblings learning together
Juniors preparing for school tennis

05What a session may focus on

Hand-eye coordination and contact
Balance and footwork
Rallying and consistency
Serve fundamentals
Technique appropriate to age and size
Confidence and effort over outcome

06Booking for your child

Bookings are made by a parent or guardian, and a parent or guardian should be present or reachable at the court for younger children.

Send your child's age, how long they have played and what they enjoy or dislike about it. That last detail shapes the first session more than the others.

Ages: Roughly 5 and up, individually assessed
Rate: $125 an hour private, $65 semi-private
Bring: Junior racquet, court shoes, water, hat
Parents: Welcome to stay and watch

Pricing

$125 / hour (private)

Semi-private $65 and group $50 per player, per hour. No travel fee inside the service area; any court or reservation fee is stated before the session is confirmed.

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07Questions

Junior Tennis FAQ

Junior Tennis in the neighborhoods that ask for it most.

Junior Tennis in San Marino
Glendale & Pasadena
Junior Tennis in Arcadia
San Gabriel Valley
Junior Tennis in South Pasadena
Glendale & Pasadena

Not on the list? The full service area runs from Hollywood through the Valley to Glendora.

Pairs well with

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