Contents
The three ITF balls: court, net and racket
Appendix VIII of the ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 restricts 10-and-under competition to the three stage balls, and to those alone. The ages attached to them are recommendations tied to the ball, not eligibility rules: a child moves ball when their game allows it.
| Ball (ITF stage) | Recommended age | Court | Net | Racket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red (Stage 3) | up to 8 | 10.97–12.80 m × 4.27–6.10 m | 0.800–0.838 m | ≤ 58.4 cm |
| Orange (Stage 2) | 8–10 | 17.68–18.29 m × 6.10–8.23 m | 0.800–0.914 m | 58.4–63.5 cm |
| Green (Stage 1) | advanced 9–10 | full court | the full-court net | 63.5–66.0 cm |
| Yellow (Types 1, 2, 3) | beyond the stages | 23.77 m × 8.23 m (singles) or 10.97 m (doubles) | 1.07 m at the posts, 0.914 m at the centre | ≤ 73.7 cm long, ≤ 31.7 cm wide |
The red ball may be foam, with no fabric cover (Appendix I). Yellow balls are chosen by court pace: Type 1 (fast) for slow courts, Type 2 (medium) for medium courts, Type 3 (slow) for fast courts. The green ball is allowed at almost every competitive level; each national association decides its own green-ball events.
When you lay out mini-courts, Appendix X sets the run-off for a club court: at least 5.48 m behind the baselines and 3.05 m beside the sidelines. Coloured youth-court lines stop 8 cm short of the white lines and are 1.0 to 1.5 cm narrower than standard lines.
The level chart for the clubhouse wall
Three tables, in the order a coach uses them: each federation's ball ladder (read one column, never an average), the FFT Galaxie Tennis pathway, then the Swiss Tennis Kids Tennis tests. Where two federation sources contradict each other, the cell says so: disputed.
1. The ball ladder, federation by federation
| Stage | ITF (Appendix VIII) | FFT Galaxie Tennis | Swiss Tennis | DTB | ÖTV | USTA (Southern California section) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before red | no stage | blanc (white): 8 m, no net, 20 cm foam ball violet: 11 m, 0.50 m net, 15 cm ball | no stage | “Stufe Blau” (blue stage), details not in the sources read | no stage | no stage |
| Red | up to 8 10.97–12.80 × 4.27–6.10 m net 0.800–0.838 m | rouge: 12.8 m net 0.80 m 7.5 cm ball | Kids Tennis red across the half court (2005) | Kleinfeld (small court) 11 × 5.5–6 m | 10.97 × 5.485 / 6.10 m net 80 cm | ages 5–7 36 × 18 ft net 2 ft 9 in |
| Orange | 8–10 17.68–18.29 × 6.10–8.23 m net 0.800–0.914 m | orange: 18 m net 0.80 m | Kids Tennis orange across the half court (2005) | Midcourt 18 × 6.40 m ball pressure reduced by 50 % | 17.83 m long 6.17 m (singles) / 8.23 m (doubles) net 80 cm | ages 7–9 |
| Green | advanced 9–10 full court | vert: 21 m net 0.80 m (a reduced court: not the ITF green) | Kids Tennis green full court (2009) the level required for a 10&U licence | full court ball pressure reduced by 25 % | 23.77 × 8.23 m net 91.4 cm | ages 9–11 |
| Yellow | Type 1, 2, 3 balls (Appendix I) | jaune: gated by ranking (see below) | normal rules (the “grey” level in 2005) | full court | full court | from 11 |
Two traps. The Galaxie green is played on 21 m with a 0.80 m net, whereas the ITF, Swiss, German and Austrian green is the full court. And in 2005 Swiss Tennis played red and orange across the half court (two to four small courts per full court), green on the normal court “moins profond” (less deep), with a fourth “grey” level on normal rules. The USTA ages come from a USTA regional section, not from a national text.
2. FFT: the Galaxie Tennis pathway
Five colours, and a level change validated by the club teacher at the “Jeu & Matchs” (play and matches) sessions. Courts and balls: FFT Ligue Grand Est; content: the FFT 2019 grid; validation: comité de l’Aube.
| Level | Court · net · ball | Age | Content (2019 grid, excerpt) | Validation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blanc (white) | 8 m · no net · 20 cm foam | not stated in the sources read | not in the sources read | club teacher, “Jeu & Matchs” |
| Violet | 11 m · 0.50 m net · 15 cm ball | not stated in the sources read | not in the sources read | as above |
| Rouge (red) | 12.8 m · 0.80 m net · 7.5 cm ball | not stated in the sources read | “Jouer des jeux décisifs … Jouer en double” (play tie-breaks … play doubles) | as above |
| Orange | 18 m · 0.80 m net | disputed 4–10 or 6–10 depending on the 2019 FFT version | not in the sources read | as above |
| Vert (green) | 21 m · 0.80 m net | disputed “from 7” or 8–10 depending on the 2019 FFT version | “En double, faire service-volée … Intercepter en double” (in doubles, serve and volley … intercept) | as above; to yellow with a 30/3 ranking (2019 grid) |
The Galaxie ages remain open: two 2019 FFT versions contradict each other on orange and green. The Galaxie level list in Paak carries the indicative ages from the FFT’s Galaxie Tennis web page (white from 5, purple and red from 6, orange from 7, green from 9): a marker to place a child, not an entry threshold. The reference to check remains the current Galaxie Tennis teacher’s guide. Match formats per level are not in the sources read.
3. Swiss Tennis: the Kids Tennis tests (2005)
The mobilesport booklet no. 3 (2005), written with Swiss Tennis, assesses each level with a played test. These are the tests published in 2005; the current Kids Tennis High School criteria are not in the sources read.
| Level | Area | The test | Pass criterion | What it opens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Tactics | 10 lobbed balls, left and right, caught in an upturned cone after one bounce, back to the centre after each ball | 8 out of 10, three attempts | not stated in the source |
| Orange | Conditioning | 50 alternate rope skips without stopping, then 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1 two-footed jumps with a hop in between | one fault per attempt, three attempts | not stated in the source |
| Green | Game situations | play on a court shortened in width, showing elements of the five game situations | adaptability, fluency, creativity | today, the 10&U licence (green required since 1 January 2016) |
| Grey (2005 only) | Technique | fed slice, half-volley, jump smash, backhand smash | the slice into a 3 m zone behind the net; the other strokes between the service line and the baseline | play on normal rules |
Two of these tests live in Paak’s drill library: the red test is the progression of the drill “The funnel”, the orange test the progression of the “Indoor stations circuit”.
The gates: licence, ranking, LK
No federation moves a child to the yellow ball on a birthday alone, but each closes the gate in a different place:
| Country | The gate | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | A 10&U licence is issued only with the Kids Tennis green level. Junior Interclub is played in 10&U, 12&U, 15&U and 18&U. | 1 January 2016 |
| France | From green to yellow through the ranking: 30/3 in the 2019 grid. The yellow-ball threshold for under-10s moved from 30/3 (2024) to 30/4 (2025), and the age-7 category entered sanctioned competition. | 2025 |
| Germany | Entry into the Leistungsklasse (LK, performance class) at 24.0, on 1 January of the year the player turns 11. | current rule |
| Austria, United States | not in the sources read |
The age reference date for Swiss junior Interclub is not settled unambiguously in the sources read: the JICR 2026 regulation is authoritative. Likewise, the FFT’s age-computation rule (1 January or sporting year) is not stated there.
The Paak bands (u9 / u13 / u17 / sen)
Paak files its sessions in four bands. That is a product grouping: no federation publishes it. Several federation stages straddle two bands, and Paak shows it rather than hiding it.
| Federation stage or category | Paak band(s) | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| ITF red (up to 8) | u9 | clean |
| ITF orange (8–10) | u9 (age 8) and u13 (9–10) | straddles |
| ITF green (advanced 9–10) | u13 | clean |
| FFT blanc, violet, rouge | u9 | clean, ages disputed |
| FFT orange | u9 and u13 | straddles |
| FFT vert | u13 | clean if entry is at 9, not under the “from 7” version |
| Swiss Tennis 10&U · 12&U | u9 and u13 · u13 | straddles · clean |
| Swiss Tennis 15&U · 18&U | u13 and u17 · u17 (age 18: sen) | straddles · mostly u17 |
| DTB, LK entry (year of turning 11) | u13 to sen | adult system from 11 |
For u9 and u13, every drill in Paak’s tennis library names the ball to use in its coaching points, following Appendix VIII, with the Galaxie colour for France and the Kids Tennis level for Switzerland. No drill is barred by age: it is adapted. The Swiss doubles booklet says it plainly: doubles has no age or level restriction as long as court, racket and balls are adapted.
Frequently asked questions
At what age should a child move to the yellow ball?
Is the Galaxie green level the same as the ITF green ball on a full court?
Which racket for a 7-year-old?
Can red-ball children play doubles?
Sources
- ITF, Rules of Tennis 2026 (Rule 1, Appendices I, II, VIII and X), as reproduced in “Rules of the Court 2026”, Tennis Canada.
- OFSPO/BASPO mobilesport, practical booklet no. 3 “Tennis” (April 2005), S. Bachmann, M. K. Meier, R. Hunziker (Swiss Tennis / J+S): the 2005 levels (p. 3), the Kids Tennis tests (p. 15).
- OFSPO/BASPO mobilesport, practical booklet no. 55 “Tennis – Double” (mobile 4/09, 2009), S. Bachmann, M. Meier (J+S Tennis head of discipline): pp. 1, 3 and 15.
- FFT, “La Galaxie Tennis” (Ligue Grand Est; comité de l’Aube); “Galaxie Tennis – Les évolutions” (FFT, 2019, third-party copy); “Galaxie Tennis” (Ligue Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, 2022); Règlements Ligue-FFT (Ligue Grand Est, 2025).
- Swiss Tennis, Junioren Interclub and the JICR 2026 regulation.
- DTB, “Das DTB Kindertennis-Konzept”; Hamburger Tennis-Verband, DTB Kindertennis page; DTB, Leistungsklasse (LK) help centre.
- ÖTV, “Kidstennis Evolution – Courts”.
- USTA Southern California, “Net Generation”.
- Paak tennis corpus, files 02 (ages, stages and load), 03 (pedagogy and levels) and 06 (equipment), verified September 2026.