Does anyone have experience teaching ballet to athletes? I have someone interested in giving his teenage son, a high level tennis player, private lessons. His previous instructor moved and he thought the training did a lot of good, so he would like to continue. I have some basic ideas, but if you have any specific advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

How much do you know about tennis? I would ask him what his strengths and weaknesses are and what he hopes to gain from the private study? You can even ask him what kind of things the other teacher worked on? Or, what his coach(es) critique and compliment him on? If they have exact things that they hope to see improve, he needs to bring that list to you

Is he trying to improve his back swing? His serve, his flexibility, response time or his agility?

I would work on basic stretch and strengthening exercises as well as plyometrics so he can serve better and maneuver the court smoother. Then possibly some resistance band exercises for legs and arms. I would work on the rotation of his spine so that he can follow through with his swing. You can even incorporate some basic port de bras to show how arm movements stem from the center of the back. If you work on a fourth port de bras with him, that will help with the rotation of his spine and the extension of his arm for a back swing.

Now, I have never played tennis in my life and I only know basic terminology from seeing it on tv a few times, so if you know more than me, just take those terms and movements and match them to your dance training and see how they overlap? When you are able to find a connection, you can analyze his movements better; therefore, helping to improve his technique If you take this on, just follow his lead in the beginning by working on the things that he knows he needs help with. In the meantime, it may be wise to go to the library and check out a few books on tennis technique and terminology

Good Luck!!