The Muir Tennis Academy (MTA), drawing from years of experience, uses a tennis curriculum that emphasizes building on individual strengths.
The curriculum uses a simple building blocks approach as a road map for player development, regardless of standard.
The approach mirrors a multiyear academic education, with structured semester programs focusing on seven key elements. The curriculum allows for tracking a player’s progress and tailoring teaching to specific needs/strengths, all while incorporating healthy competitive elements. Here’s the curriculum:
The curriculum is divided into two main sections: learning the Fundamentals and Building a Game based on the fundamentals.
1. Fundamentals
- Ball Watching: This involves teaching players about eye-hand coordination and focus, with drills designed to track the ball from the opponent’s racket to their own.
- Balance and Rhythm: The training here includes exercises to improve physical coordination, footwork, balance, and rhythm, enhancing agility and court movement.
2. Building A Game
- Applied Fundamentals: This step involves integrating basic skills into more complex drills, combining ball watching and balance with hitting exercises to simulate real-game scenarios.
- Strategy Essentials: Players learn tactical aspects of the game, understanding different shots, their appropriate use, and how to anticipate the opponent’s moves.
- Singles Strategy: The curriculum focuses on specific singles play strategies, such as court management, exploiting opponents’ weaknesses, and enhancing serve and return games.
- Doubles Strategy: Emphasizes teamwork, positioning, and communication in doubles, teaching effective partnership strategies, including court coverage and shot selection.
This structured approach fosters learning and development, focusing more on the “experience” rather than just winning or achieving high rankings.