The USTA's
Quick Start Tennis is a graduated
length system with two stages of play before
progressing to a 72-foot full court: The
first stage for beginning players advocates
a 36-foot long court. If a tennis court is
used, simply play the 36-foot length from
doubles sideline to doubles sideline. The
balls recommended for this 36-foot red stage
court are the softball size red-colored
"Quick Start 36 Foam" OR the red-colored
"Quick Start 36" low-compression balls,
which are 15% larger than regular tennis
balls. These balls rebound slowly off the
racquet and lower off the ground, allowing
the children to swing freely while still
controlling the balls with more success.
The second stage moves children and all
beginning players to a 60-foot court. This
can be achieved by using lines to "shorten"
a regular tennis court by bringing in the
baseline 9 feet on each side (or just
setting up this length in a gymnasium. NOTE:
Regular tennis balls bounce too quickly to
play tennis on the slick floors of
gymnasiums, but the slowest bouncing 36-foot
stage balls are hardly affected and maintain
their slow-bouncing characteristics.
