Advantage
Pathway
Advantage Tennis would like to see each and every student that we coach playing with purpose and direction towards a set goal. We have devised a pathway that we believe caters for each student at each level. The pathway is designed both for players that want to enjoy tennis socially and those who would like to take the more competitive route.
Students may not even know their goals at an early stage and therefore the base program will be similar before players branch off in their specific direction. The pathway may need to be revised periodically and will certainly evolve in time. The aim is to give all our students the vision that tennis is a lifetime sport. It can be played socially with family and friends and competitively at an amateur level well into your 80s locally, nationally and internationally.
Advantage Tennis looks forward to building players that will have a life time experiencing the joys of playing tennis at whatever level they desire.
Benefits of
club tennis
Students taking the social and the tournament route will benefit from playing club tennis. Randburg TC offers players the opportunity to gain experience playing doubles against established players which will help them improve their own doubles play by improving court position and doubles tactics. Club championships allow players the opportunity to compete against older and more experienced players. League enhances the competitive edge and allows players to compete under difficult conditions as an individual and as a team. Advantage Tennis would like all their students to commit to either the social or tournament pathway. This will help direct and focus the student and the coach as they work towards set goals. We understand that each student is unique and we may need to adjust and make necessary changes at specific times during the journey. With this in mind our aim moving forward is to introduce more match practice at each level to allow players to implement game styles without focusing on the result. Players also need to focus on improving their agility, strength, balance, speed and endurance. Parts of this will be focused on in squads however we can also direct players to a sports scientist who will enhance a player’s development in these areas. Drilling squads will focus on grooving strokes, consistency and developing weapons.
Social pathway
- 4-5.5 year olds: Mini Mini’s
- 5.5-8 year olds: Red Dot Group (Mini’s)
- 8-10 year olds: Orange Dot Group (Mini’s)
- 9-12 year olds: Green Dot/L1 Group
- 13 years & up: Hardball/L2 Group
- 13 years & up: Hardball/L3 Group,
Club social tennis,
Club championships,
Club League
Tournament Pathway
- 4-5.5 year olds: Mini Mini’s
- 5.5-8 year olds: Red Dot Group (Mini’s)/Squad/Private
- 8-10 year olds: Orange Dot Group (Mini’s)/Squad/Private
- 9-12 year olds: Green Dot/Drilling Squad/Conditioning Squad/Private/Club Social Tennis/TSA Miniseries/TSA Grand Prix/TSA Super 8
- 13 years & up: Hardball/Drilling Squad/Conditioning Squad/Private/Club Social Tennis/Club Championships/Club League/TSA Miniseries/TSA Grand Prix/TSA Super 8/ITFs
*To expand on the TSA tournaments we would like our younger entry level players at u10 and u12 level to initially play Mini Series tournaments locally GC (JHB), GN (PTA) and GE (BENONI). The mini-series tournaments are also ideal for the older players to play matches where they focus on playing a certain style without focusing on the result and also to play up in an age group to gain experience against stronger players. Our entry level players can then expand their horizon by moving into the local Grand Prix events which are slightly stronger. They can also travel further to Mpumulanga, Durban and Bloemfontein. The next level is to be exposed to the strongest tournaments which are the Super 8 tournaments (CT, BOL, PE, EL, KZN, OFS, GC, GN, GE) played in each major city in the country and Nationals played once per year generally in OFS. It is important for players to do well against the best players in the country in their age group before playing up an age in the bigger tournaments.
The next step is to play the regional ITF (International Tennis Federation) tournaments in South and Southern Africa. These tournaments are u18 and will allow players to obtain an international u18 ranking. The tournaments are graded from Grade 5 to Grade 1 (weakest to strongest). Once players gain enough points they can travel more extensively around the world with the opportunity to play in the junior Grand Slam events.
The next step would be for the players to move onto a college in the USA or attempt the entry level of the WTA or ATP tour. Please note that the entire tennis journey needs to focus on developing and improving your game continuously with a set goal that you are striving towards.
social pathway |
Recommended Programme Per Week | Matchplay | Club | Tennis SA (TSA) |
Mini Mini's 4-5.5 year olds | 1 or 2
Mini Groups |
N/A | N/A | N/A |
Red Dot 5.5-8 year olds | 1 or 2
Mini Groups |
Advantage
Tournaments |
N/A | N/A |
Orange Dot 8-10 year olds | 1 or 2 Mini
Groups/Private |
Advantage
Tournaments |
N/A | N/A |
Green Dot 9-12 year olds | 1 or 2 Level 1
Groups/Private |
Advantage
Tournaments |
Junior Club
Champions |
N/A |
L2/L3 Hardball 13 & up | 1 or 2 Level 2/3
Groups/Private |
Advantage
Tournaments |
Social Tennis/ Club
Champs/League |
N/A |
tournament |
Recommended Programme Per Week | Matchplay | Club | Tennis SA (TSA) |
Mini Mini's 4-5.5 year olds | 1 or 2
Mini Groups |
N/A | N/A | N/A |
Red Dot 5.5-8 year olds | Mini Tennis/Red
Dot/Private |
Advantage
Tournaments |
N/A | N/A |
Orange Dot 8-10 year olds | Mini Tennis/Orange
Dot/Private |
Advantage
Tournaments |
N/A | N/A |
Green Dot 9-12 year olds | Level 2 Group/Drilling Squad/Conditioning
Squad/Hitting Session/Private |
Advantage
Tournaments |
Junior Club Championships/
Social Tennis |
Mini Series/Grand Prix/Super 8 |
Hardball 13 & up | Drilling Squad/Conditioning
Squad/Hitting Session/Private | Practice
Matches |
Social Tennis/ Club
Champs/League |
Mini Series/Grand Prix/Super 8/ITF |