How to Overcome Fear of Being Hit By A Tennis Ball

Fear Factor - Use Foam Balls

The final issue to cover is Key#6, The Fear Factor. It may sound funny, but really it's isn't. Getting over the initial fear of being hit by a tennis ball coming right at you has slowed down the progress of may would be volleyers. When you move in towards the net, you often have less than a second to get your racket on the ball. So when the ball is coming right at you, it complicates everything, since a volleyer's first reaction will be to avoid being hit. In this portion we'll share how we overcame the fear factor with Calindy.

To get Calindy to overcome any initial dear of the ball, we used a foam spinner's ball. First, we just bounced it off her head, and then her stomach, to really prove that she wouldn't get hurt. The next step is to have Calindy stand still and figure out for herself what to do when the ball comes towards her. Some will come at here right shoulder, some at her left hip, and some at her knees. In each case I let her figure out for herself, what to do, to get her racket on the ball.

The next step is to also have Calindy stand still, but now play against with regular tennis balls. Once again, she has to figure out for herself what to do. At this stage she starts to realize that she is fully able to handle balls hit right at her. Although they should still be fed slower than normal at this time. Remember that the goal is to built her confidence.

Here are two exercises that it help Calindy overcome the fear factor at the net.

In this drill Calindy starts looking away from me, and I simple call out "turn!" as I feed each ball. Her job is to quickly spin and then volley the ball back into play. It's a great little exercise to get any player more on his or her toes and to speed up reactions and reflexes. With Calindy, we've found that if she could follow you after spinning, regular volleying was relatively easy.