HappyBats Tennis uses music and rhymes, soft sponge balls and balloons and possibly the smallest racquets you've ever seen, to give children aged 2 - 5 a fun and memorable introduction to tennis! Classes are held in a variety of halls, enabling continuity year-round and giving the children a wonderful opportunity to develop in all areas.
Parental involvement in our classes is required; the more enthusiastic the better; it could be argued that some parents have just as much fun as the children which makes HappyBats Tennis classes brilliant for bonding with your children.
Our classes are unique because of the rhymes and songs that we use; you won't find them anywhere else! Children remember the songs and the rhymes because they are short and catchy and this aspect helps the children to remember key elements about each shot! We run a combination of classes; some at village halls which are open to any parent and child, but we also run classes for nurseries, preschools and schools (for the Reception Year only).
We complement the EYFS framework and give support to all children so that they can achieve to the best of their ability.
South Wiltshire and West Hampshire. Salisbury, Wilton, Broad Chalke, Downton, Woodfalls, Winterbourne Dauntsey
Payment for each term is upfront. When enrolling for the child's first term, a HappyBats Tennis t-shirt must be purchased which is required to be worn to classes.
All equipment provided.
£6.50 per class for a 45 minute class, or £4.75 for a 30 minute class.
Trial classes available.
Bookings can be made via the website: www.happybatstennis.co.uk
The sessions are great, Fiona gets them all to listen to her which is a feat in itself! She uses music and rhymes to get them to remember the names of things and plays games using the balls and rackets. Jasmin loves the game Zoom Zoom Zoom where they send the ball to the moon. I like it because it gives them a new skill that I wouldn’t necessarily do with them at home myself. Fiona’s brilliant with them, it’s really very good, I’m really impressed with the class.
Happybats is a pre-school tennis session, working on childrens on balance, co-ordination and agility through fun games and all things tennis related. In our session there are usually about 4 or 5 other children. The sessions are structured well & always have a warm up, then a skill to focus on. One of the childrens favourite games is Hunt the Treasure where Fiona hides gold coins under cones and the children take the ball for a walk using their rackets, searching for the hidden treasure. Fiona teaches the children all the different shots in tennis (forehand, backhand, serve & volley) via fun games, music & rhymes. They have the right level of repetition to reinforce the skills so they are learned, but not so much that it’s boring. The atmosphere is relaxed, jolly and welcoming and the children progress well and at their own pace. Fiona is always encouraging & enthusiastic in sessions, plus handles her administration very promptly & efficiently. Toby really enjoys it, we’ve been going for nearly two years!
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Fiona is a Level 3 LTA Registered Coach and Founder of HappyBats Tennis. Fiona played to a national level and achieved world rankings in both singles and doubles before starting her coaching career. She was inspired to strive for a high level of performance by the passion and belief of her coach and hopes to be able to enthuse young children into tennis by capturing their imagination during classes.
It’s a nice class with three other boys and one girl all together and we start by all saying hello to each other and having a bit of a warm up. Then we sit down and Fiona explains what stroke we’ll be working on, like today it was a volley and then we play games which help teach them the different aspects of the shot. Sometimes I help Xavi and sometimes he’s happy to do the session with Fiona, it depends on him on the day, but Fiona is really good and mingles in and out keeping an eye and helping and encouraging. She’s really chilled out and from a parent point of view it’s nice and relaxed and the children aren’t pressured into doing anything they don’t want to. At the end they all get a sticker and have a chat about what they’ve done in the session. It’s a nice really relaxing environment, we enjoy it.
Kat 02 Dec 2014