More tennis hot shots wanted | Gympie Tennis | Tennis in Gympie

Gympie tennis junior Zoe Powell goes through her paces.

Renee Pilcher

GYMPIE and District Tennis Association coach Matthew Watkins is pleased with the progress of the club’s new Hot Shots junior tennis program.

The program is midway through its first term and two groups of young hot shots are involved.

Together, there are 16 potential future tennis stars learning their skills at the Reg English courts.

“The response has been great,” Watkins said.

“The kids have been enjoying the program, although we have not had much tennis in the last week because of the rain.”

The Hot Shots program is part of a nationwide Tennis Australia initiative aimed at improving junior participation.

The program aims to teach the fundamentals of the game while allowing participants to immediately transfer these newly learned skills to a modified game situation.

“It’s a good starting point because kids can learn and start playing real tennis right away,” Watkins said.

In the past, the standard approach saw players learn the skills through coaching before eventually stepping up to play competitively.

The program is about having fun on the court, and new players can pick up a racquet and pull on a wrist band for the second term, due to being mid April.

Contact Matthew Watkins on 0417 070 129 for details.