Contents
Two game situations, one duel
Practice booklet no. 3 (2005) names the five basic situations: “I start the point (serve) · I return the serve · My opponent and I both play from the baseline · I come to the net (attack) · I play a passing shot”. The current Swiss Tennis and J+S training programme keeps the same grid and adds a row of its own for net play. The tactical intentions published for the two situations of this guide:
| Situation | Tactical intent | Training forms in the booklet |
|---|---|---|
| Approach / net | Exploit the short ball; attack the backhand; serve-and-volley | “Short ball, I’m in!”, “Advantage attack”, “Serve and follow!” |
| Passing / defence | Read the attacker; pass to the free side; lob | “Find me”, “Volley versus return”, “Into orbit” |
The traffic light taught from childhood applies here too: red (defend: slow, high, gain time), yellow (build: long, fast, placed), green (finish: winner or forced error). Coming to the net is a “green”; the defensive lob is a “red”.
Volley and smash, from catching to playing
The Swiss technical concept starts from three key movements, “hitting with a swing”, “blocking” and “throwing”, whose combinations form the stroke families: baseline strokes, volleys, overheads. The volley is therefore built without a big swing. The published progression, by Paak age band:
| Band | Drill | What it builds |
|---|---|---|
| u9 (red · orange ball) | “Butterfly hunt” | Just behind the net, the child catches thrown balls in the air with an upturned cone: high, flat, fast, slow, short, long. They discover volley and smash trajectories. Progression “The target”: a red centre and orange and green rings described on the strings, hit the red dot five times in a row. |
| u13 (orange · green ball, then yellow) | “Four in a row” | Three volleys and a smash thrown by the partner, counted in fault-free series. Cues: short blocked volley, racket head up, step to the ball; smash side-on, free hand pointing at the ball. |
| u17 · seniors | “Blind spot” | Run in, split-step, two volleys: the first long crosscourt, the second short crosscourt or through the middle. Long first opens the space for short. |
| u17 · seniors | “Elevator” | Two slow balls at the net player’s feet, then a defensive lob to smash at full stretch: down, down, up. Low volley: bend the legs, not the back. |
The split-step, which the doubles booklet calls a “double support of the feet”, lands on the opponent’s contact, never before: it is what lets the player move off to the right side. Under 10, the ball follows the child according to Appendix VIII of the ITF Rules of Tennis 2026 (red up to 8, orange 8 to 10, green for advanced players aged 9 to 10); in France the FFT Galaxie Tennis colour applies, in Switzerland the Kids Tennis level.
Coming in: short ball, serve-and-volley, chip and charge
- A first “serve and follow” (u9, u13). “Watch out, I’m coming!”: the child serves underarm from behind the opponent’s service line, comes in and finishes the point at the net. They stop (adjustment step) as the opponent hits; the first volley goes deep, the point is won on the second.
- The short ball (u13, u17). “Short ball, I’m in!”: baseline rally; any ball that lands short of the service line must be attacked and followed to the net, along the line of your own shot. Progression “Advantage attack”: approach only to the opponent’s backhand, then a slice approach followed straight to the net.
- Serve-and-volley (u17, seniors). “Serve and follow!”: the server must come in straight behind the serve. Split-step on the returner’s contact; serve to the body or the T to narrow the return angle. The doubles booklet calls immediate serve-and-volley the “Big Game”.
- Chip and charge. Block the return, especially on a weak second serve, and follow it in (doubles booklet, 2009). It is added as a progression of “Volley versus return”: the returner may chip and charge the second serve.
The passing shot and the lob
A pass is not played against the ball, it is played against the net player. The whole progression in the booklet teaches players to look at them before hitting:
| Band | Drill | Rule and scoring |
|---|---|---|
| u9 | “Sandwich” | Throwing game for three in a line: the two outside players pass the ball, the one in the middle tries to intercept it. No lobs; throw low and firm, to the free side. |
| u13 | “Find me” | The coach feeds a short ball; the attacker comes in covering one side on purpose; the defender watches and passes to the free side. After ten balls, who made the most passes? Progression “Winning run”: the same player passes ten times, short crosscourt and down the line. |
| u13 | “The higher the better” | Lob a simple ball fed by the net player so it lands between the service line and the baseline. Three minutes, count the successful lobs. Height first, then depth. |
| u17 · seniors | “Volley versus return” | A serves and comes in, B answers with passes. Successful pass 3 points, winning volley 2, other winners 1; match to twelve. Returner: low ball at the feet, then the pass. |
| u17 · seniors | “Into orbit” | Normal play; a lob over an opponent at the net scores 3, other winners 1; first to ten. Disguise the lob behind the passing-shot preparation, aim over the net player’s backhand shoulder. |
The scoring is the teaching: by giving more points to the pass and the lob than to an ordinary winner, the drill forces the defender to look for the answer the match rewards most when the opponent is at the net.
In Paak
The app’s tennis library files these drills under two themes, approach and net play on one side, passing and defence on the other, each available for every band (u9, u13, u17, seniors), with the child’s ball restated in the coaching points for the u9 and u13 drills. The session builder offers the “Approach & net play” focus: warm-up, two main blocks on that focus, a game block, cool-down.
Frequently asked questions
At what age should serve-and-volley start?
Should players come in more often on fast courts?
Should a specific volley grip be taught?
Sources
OFSPO / Swiss Tennis, mobilesport practice booklet no. 3 “Tennis” (April 2005; Bachmann, Meier, Hunziker): the five situations p. 4, the technical concept p. 2, net play pp. 10–11, passing pp. 12–13. OFSPO / J+S Tennis, mobilesport practice booklet no. 55 “Tennis – Double” (mobile 4/09, 2009): lexicon (chip and charge, Big Game) p. 4, forms pp. 4–7, split-step p. 6, traffic light p. 10. Swiss Tennis and J+S, “Tennis: Ausbildungsprogramm” (training programme, August 2023 file). ITF, Rules of Tennis 2026, Appendices I (court pace) and VIII (10 and under), reproduced in “Rules of the Court 2026” (Tennis Canada). Paak tennis corpus, files 03 (technique, drills and pedagogy) and 04 (tactics and match analysis), checked in September 2026.