Junior Development: Technique By Age And Stage

Stage before age

Teaching technique to the appropriate age and stage is the line on the roadmap that gets ignored most often, and it's the one that produces the most burned-out fourteen-year-olds.

A young player who cannot yet control the racket head doesn't need a full western grip and a wiper finish — they need receiving and sending skills. Catch, feed, rally, control. Athleticism and movement come first, and the strokes get built onto a body that can already get to the ball.

The progression Don runs

1. Receiving and sending — track the ball, meet it, send it to a target.
2. Rally tolerance — cooperative rallies before competitive points.
3. Situational play — serve plus one, return plus one.
4. Match play — real scoring, real pressure, coached debriefs.

Juniors in the Portage program run this every season, and the Junior Tribe Academy is where it starts for grades five through eight.