In a sports environment, the training equipment is very important and should be of good quality, whether it’s football training equipment, basketball, tennis or else. While the first two are team sports, tennis is both an individual and a team sport. In addition to singles, there are men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
Also, tennis is one of the most popular sports these days and approximately 87 million people play tennis around the world. If you are one of them, whether a novice or a pro, a coach or a student, you need to invest in the right training equipment, so you can improve your game faster.
Tennis training equipment includes essentials such as high-quality balls and rackets and coaching aids to give players the best chance to improve their skills. Also, you should keep the court tidy and organised at all times, so here are some of the basic items you’ll need to make the most of your skill-building exercises.
Different Type of Coaching Accessories and How to Choose
Ball Baskets
Maybe tennis ball baskets are not the first thing that comes to mind when your think of tennis training equipment, however, they are great for intensive practice sessions when picking up all those balls can be a waste of valuable time for coaches, helpers and players. A tennis ball basket is an essential piece of kit and can make tennis teaching and coaching easy and fun.
Making the chore of picking up, organising and storing tennis balls easier can be very beneficial for your practice sessions. You can choose from a variety of tennis ball baskets and select the ones that suit your needs and preferences. Plastic tennis ball hoppers are lightweight and very convenient to carry around, while the metal ones are sturdier and a great choice for constant use.
The idea is to keep all the tennis balls close at hand, especially when practising serve. Ball baskets can help practice the swing and hit-timing instead of collecting balls. The players can increase muscle memory as they swing again and again instead of chasing the balls around the court, which makes ball baskets some of the most useful tools when practising the game.
How Many Tennis Balls Fit in a Basket?
It depends upon the type, but a tennis ball basket can typically hold from 50 to 140 balls, however, the standard basket would fit anywhere between 40 to 70 or 80 balls. For tennis centres, clubs or academies the standard size will do, while coaches who keep tennis balls in their car and travel around to coach, may want to consider a capacity of 100 or more. When choosing a tennis ball basket, make sure to consider how many balls you need it to hold, who will be using it most of the time and whether you would like it to be able to feed balls.
Ball Machines
Coaches who need to throw tennis balls to their students may consider a ball machine. Ball machines often have high ball capacities to help players maximise their repetitions, so investing in one can save you precious time and energy.
Pick Up Tubes
Along with ball baskets, tubes are another popular option for picking up tennis balls, which can pick up one ball at a time. They come in various sizes with different ball capacities. To make the right choice look for features like rubber bands to prevent balls from falling out, straps for carrying and a small hook at the top end, so you could hang it when not in use.
Balls
Think about your students and their needs and choose tennis balls accordingly. For brand new players, you can use good quality balls, but brighter in colour, while for experienced players make sure to use balls that they will be playing with in competitions and/or tournaments. For the youngest ones, you can choose foam tennis balls.
Racquets
As a tennis coach, you may advise your students that they need to have a few tennis racquets of different sizes and weights. However, as a tennis coach, you should have at least two racquets in case the strings break during a coaching session, so you can lend your student a racquet.
Cones
When teaching new players, tennis cones can be very helpful and can be placed in different parts of the tennis court for a number of reasons. You can put a cone in the service box, so the player will know where to aim. Also, you can put one near the player’s foot and use it as a guideline where to step when performing a forehand or a backhand and improve their footwork.
Donuts
When it comes to footwork, it’s something that tennis coaches stress to players because without getting your feet in the right position, it’s very difficult to execute the shot. Donuts are round circles that you can place in strategic positions on the court to help with speed and footwork. They can be used for all level tennis players and are great for both fun and training.
Grips
These are small pieces of tennis equipment, but can really help maximise different types of shots in tennis. There are different types of grips, including forehand grips, continental grip, eastern grip, semi-western grip, western grip and more.
At the beginning of your tennis coaching carrier, you will probably have just a few coaching aids, but as you improve and grow your practice, you will start investing in more tennis equipment. The best way to use it right is to choose a skill or problem you want your student to correct and work on it.
