Objective: Comfort with equipment, rules, and rally basics.
1. Warm-up & intro (5–10 min)
• Grip (continental/eastern handshake grip)
• Safety & court layout (kitchen line, sidelines, service area)
2. Basic rules (10 min)
• Scoring (understanding 0-0-2)
• Double bounce rule
• Kitchen rule
3. Fundamentals (20 min)
• Ready position & paddle up
• Basic forehand and backhand groundstrokes (short rallies from service line)
• Serving technique (underhand serve, cross-court)
4. Play practice (15–20 min)
• Cooperative rally: keep ball going
• Try serving & returning
• Mini-game: first to 5 points (coach assists to keep play flowing)
Objective: Confidence, tactics, and competitive play.
1. Consistency under pressure
• Longer dink rallies (patience drills)
• Defensive lobs & resets
2. Offense & defense strategy
• Attacking weak dinks
• Defending against hard drives
• Resetting pace with soft shots
3. Advanced serving/returning
• Spin serves (if allowed by ruleset)
• Deep/angled returns
4. Match play focus
• Doubles communication (“Mine!” “Switch!”)
• Tournament scoring practice
• Full games with tactical coaching
Objective: Learn “third shot,” volleys, positioning, and teamwork.
1. Third shot options
• Drop shot into kitchen (soft landing)
• Drive (hard shot when opportunity is right)
2. Volleys & net control
• Blocking volleys at kitchen line
• Punch volley & reaction drills
3. Court positioning
• Transitioning from baseline to kitchen
• Partner movement (staying even at the line)
4. Game play focus
• Work on patterns: serve–return–third–move up
• Situational games (only score on drops, or only net play allowed)
Objective: Consistent serve/return, intro to net play.
1. Review & warm-up
• Grip & stance refresh
• Short cooperative rallies
2. Serve & return
• Accuracy practice (target zones)
• Depth focus on return of serve
3. Dinks (soft shots at kitchen line)
• Introduce purpose: control, patience
• Practice dink rallies across net
4. Game-like play
• Serve–return–third shot pattern drill
• Modified games (half court, drop-feed starts)