Pure Fun Games: Giant Tennis Golf and Tennis Spud
Most of my tennis students are quite happy to work every bit as hard as I ask them to, and although the most driven of teaching pros and parents might disagree, I think hard work deserves to be rewarded every once in a while with some games that excel in fun, but have minimal applicability to match play. Giant Tennis Golf and Tennis Spud rank among the most popular games for pure fun, and both can be played even when no courts are available.
Giant Tennis Golf
Of all games played predominantly for fun, Giant Tennis Golf has by far the widest appeal, as adults are usually just as eager to play as kids are. The name largely describes the whole idea of the game; you use a tennis racquet to send a tennis ball to a series of targets in as few strokes as possible. The "Giant" part of the name indicates that you'll be using a much larger area than the tennis court; we play on as many acres surrounding our teaching court as we have time to traverse.
A typical target will be a bench or similar-sized object on the order of 40-200 yards away. Most players especially enjoy the first shot on each "hole," as you get to whack the ball as far as you can. Wherever your ball stops rolling, you pick it up, take one giant step if you wish, and hit your next shot. Once you're off a smooth surface like the tennis court, you'll toss the ball and hit it in the air; most players use a forehand swing, but some prefer a serve.
To make the game competitive for all of the players, each player gets a "par" as the basis for that hole's score.
On a hole where an advanced adult would have a par of three, a junior beginner might have a par of seven, so that if the junior hits the target in six shots and the adult in three, the junior is ahead by one, because she is one under par.
Giant Tennis Golf works quite nicely with two through eight players. It gets somewhat slower as the number of players increases, because players often have to wait for no one to be in the way of their swings or in the path of their shots. Even when players scatter sufficiently to hit without taking turns, it's more fun to watch each player take a turn and compliment a good shot or laugh in a friendly way when a ball gets stuck high up in a bush or hit into a lake (true story). It's a good idea for the instructor to bring a couple of spare balls just in case--and to avoid getting near anything breakable (like a window) or inaccessible (like a lake).
Tennis Spud
If you know Spud, then Tennis Spud is also well explained by its name. The instructor assigns each of the players a number. They all gather around with racquets in hand as the instructor tosses a foam ball high into the air and calls out one of the numbers. The player whose number is called must catch the ball on her racquet and yell "Spud" as soon as she does. In the time between the instructor calling out a number and the called player yelling "Spud," the other players run away as fast as they can, but as soon as they hear "Spud," they must freeze wherever they are. The called player then takes whatever number of steps the rules allow toward whomever she wishes and tries to hit that person with the foam ball. The person she's aiming at can move anything but his feet, and he cannot block the shot with his racquet. If she hits him, he gets a letter (starting with "S"); if she misses, she gets the letter. The object is to be the last player to get SPUD. If a player does get SPUD, he keeps playing, starting into the word FRIES (spuds are potatoes) if he gets more letters.
Tennis Spud appeals strongly to kids, but many adults have a great time joining in. Give each player enough steps with the ball that, on average, he or she can get close enough to one of the other players to have a decent chance of hitting on target. Foam balls are pretty harmless almost no matter where they hit, but make a rule that hitting someone in the head counts as a miss just to make the game even safer. The rules should also require staying on the same side of the net as the hitter (if you're playing on a court) and not hiding behind anything or climbing the fence.
Giant Tennis Golf
Of all games played predominantly for fun, Giant Tennis Golf has by far the widest appeal, as adults are usually just as eager to play as kids are. The name largely describes the whole idea of the game; you use a tennis racquet to send a tennis ball to a series of targets in as few strokes as possible. The "Giant" part of the name indicates that you'll be using a much larger area than the tennis court; we play on as many acres surrounding our teaching court as we have time to traverse.
A typical target will be a bench or similar-sized object on the order of 40-200 yards away. Most players especially enjoy the first shot on each "hole," as you get to whack the ball as far as you can. Wherever your ball stops rolling, you pick it up, take one giant step if you wish, and hit your next shot. Once you're off a smooth surface like the tennis court, you'll toss the ball and hit it in the air; most players use a forehand swing, but some prefer a serve.
To make the game competitive for all of the players, each player gets a "par" as the basis for that hole's score.
On a hole where an advanced adult would have a par of three, a junior beginner might have a par of seven, so that if the junior hits the target in six shots and the adult in three, the junior is ahead by one, because she is one under par.
Giant Tennis Golf works quite nicely with two through eight players. It gets somewhat slower as the number of players increases, because players often have to wait for no one to be in the way of their swings or in the path of their shots. Even when players scatter sufficiently to hit without taking turns, it's more fun to watch each player take a turn and compliment a good shot or laugh in a friendly way when a ball gets stuck high up in a bush or hit into a lake (true story). It's a good idea for the instructor to bring a couple of spare balls just in case--and to avoid getting near anything breakable (like a window) or inaccessible (like a lake).
Tennis Spud
If you know Spud, then Tennis Spud is also well explained by its name. The instructor assigns each of the players a number. They all gather around with racquets in hand as the instructor tosses a foam ball high into the air and calls out one of the numbers. The player whose number is called must catch the ball on her racquet and yell "Spud" as soon as she does. In the time between the instructor calling out a number and the called player yelling "Spud," the other players run away as fast as they can, but as soon as they hear "Spud," they must freeze wherever they are. The called player then takes whatever number of steps the rules allow toward whomever she wishes and tries to hit that person with the foam ball. The person she's aiming at can move anything but his feet, and he cannot block the shot with his racquet. If she hits him, he gets a letter (starting with "S"); if she misses, she gets the letter. The object is to be the last player to get SPUD. If a player does get SPUD, he keeps playing, starting into the word FRIES (spuds are potatoes) if he gets more letters.
Tennis Spud appeals strongly to kids, but many adults have a great time joining in. Give each player enough steps with the ball that, on average, he or she can get close enough to one of the other players to have a decent chance of hitting on target. Foam balls are pretty harmless almost no matter where they hit, but make a rule that hitting someone in the head counts as a miss just to make the game even safer. The rules should also require staying on the same side of the net as the hitter (if you're playing on a court) and not hiding behind anything or climbing the fence.
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