On the forehand, young kids should be taught to swing low-to-high, extending outward and then following through to the top of shoulder or the neck, often with a catch by the non-dominant hand.
Truth:
Little kids can and should be taught to swing parabolically, from low to high—extending out—but then rotating the upper and lower arm across the body like a windshield wiper—and finishing low, to the side of the shoulder, bicep, or even to hip or leg level with the racquet inverted.
Thus the best way to describe the movement to little kids is, “low to high to low”—not ”low to high.”
“Inverted” means the racquet head is lower than the hand at the finish, encouraging a relaxed arm and an elastic swing.
Preserving and encouraging elasticity in the arm should be the main teaching priority U10—not the low-to-high swing path.
Catching the racquet discourages acceleration and often leads to a stiff low-to-high swing.
It’s much better—for elasticity and acceleration—to let the racquet “drift” lower at the end of the swing, avoiding any catch.
In short, everything should be done at the U10 level to discourage stiffness and promote elasticity.
Any technical model that creates stiffness in the arm should be discarded.
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