Judy Murray's Miss-Hits course free for Mothers' Day
To coincide with Mothers’ Day in the UK, former British Fed Cup captain Judy Murray – mother of former world No.1s and Grand Slam champions Andy and Jamie Murray – has made her online tennis introduction course, Miss-Hits, available for free for 48 hours on 22-23 March 2020.
Inspired by her mission to increase female participation in tennis as both players and coaches, Murray’s Miss Hits course offers parents and teachers the training to run structured active sessions that introduce the basic elements of tennis technique to girls aged 5-8 years old.
“The Miss-Hits course is all about easy-to-do but fun indoor activities that develop the skills you need to be able to play tennis,” Murray said. “It’s all about fun games that do the teaching for us so that kids learn without realising through play – we use brightly coloured slow-moving equipment, so kids can build confidence through success.”
At a time when many countries are dealing with nationwide school closures – such closures come into effect across the UK next week – and increased calls to work from home to aid social distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents face the prospect of overseeing their children’s education at home – both academic and active.
“It’s going to be a challenging time for parents keeping kids active and engaged over the coming months,” Murray said. “Everyone is going to need fresh air and exercise so it’s important that parents factor both into their daily routines.
“The sporting community must play its part by sharing fun games and exercises for parents to play actively with their kids in smallish spaces, using items that can be found in the house or garden.”
One of the reasons that Murray focused the Miss-Hits program on women and girls came in response to the disparity of female coaches in the game. While the 2019 ITF Global Tennis Report found that 47 per cent of the world’s 87 million tennis players are female, women account for just 21 per cent of the 164,000 coaches worldwide.
But she adds that the course is aimed at introducing tennis to both the coach and the student – an entry-level approach that should be inviting and engaging to mothers and daughters alike, with the online coaching course for adults aimed at helping to give girls a primer before they take up mini tennis.
“You don’t need to be a teacher or even a tennis player to do our course,” Murray said. “All you need is enthusiasm and some energetic kids to play with.
“Miss-Hits develops the physical skills you need to be able to play tennis through lots of fun skill-building games. If you develop coordination, balance and agility skills along with the ability to track, throw and catch a bouncing ball, then tennis becomes much easier to master.”
The Miss-Hits online training course will be available for free from midnight on Saturday 21 March until midnight Monday 23 March. Click here to sign up for the course online, and learn more about the Miss-Hits program here.