Coach Aaron from the Howick Tennis Club recently spent four weeks with our Year 3s, introducing them to the game of tennis. Students started by throwing tennis balls at specific targets and taking a close look at tennis racquets, after which they were shown the correct way to hold it.
Putting a racquet and ball together, our budding tennis stars soon realised that trying to balance a tennis ball on a racquet, which is a bit like an egg-and-spoon race, was certainly harder than it initially seemed. They were using all space available on the Astroturf, moving around in an anti-clockwise direction, trying to walk as fast as they could without dropping their ‘eggs’. This resulted in some excited squealing, as well as some frustrated shouts.
This led onto the next part – one student throwing the ball over the net to their partner, and the partner trying to hit the ball with their racquet using a forehand move. As expected, balls ended up all over the Astroturf – especially when students explored using the backhand move! Either way, students enjoyed learning this new skill, and may end up pestering their parents for ongoing tennis lessons.
Meanwhile many senior students and teachers thought the tennis instructor was none other than our very own Mr Crook. We’d love to see him play too!
