Reluctant player

Hi have a 8 year old who says he wants to learn and will start some practice then go all shy and hide under the table !! His parents are present and they don't know what to do with him when he does this.

My approach is just to offer the training for as long as he can concentrate then just leave him under the table and get on with coaching someone else.

ALSO

He just will not use his forehand to return the ball tho he has quite a good forehand low serve every time I return the ball to his forehand he immediately returns it from his backhand wherever the ball lands. I just can't get him to break this habit.

Any Ideas.

best wishes

Stan

Hi Stan,

I think what you are doing int he first instance is what I would also do.  The more you force him the less he will want to play.  I think if you had a whole lot of fun activities that you were playing with another player he may come out and be curious enough to want to watch or play more.

On trying to encourage the forehand, perhaps play a game with him where he gets 5 points every time he hits the ball with his forehand and 1 point when he hits the ball with his backhand.  Just something to encourage him to use the forehand side.  Or just see how many times he can hit it in a row only using his forehand side.