Are you a fan of Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys, or Serena and Venus Williams? They all follow in the footsteps of Billie Jean King, the famous American world champion tennis player and original trail blazer for women’s equality in sports. She became a legend when she won a “Battle of the Sexes” match in 1973 against top-ranked male player Bobby Riggs.
King retired from playing professional tennis in 1983 with an astonishing 39 Grand Slam titles, including a record 20 Wimbledon Championships. She has stayed active in the tennis world by coaching, mentoring, commentating, and advising on a range of projects – including her namesake tennis training product, “Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach.”
If swinging a bat isn’t to your liking, you may find that hitting a ball with a racquet is a more satisfying sport for you. (Instead of a hard “crack,” it has a nice “bounce.”) And despite the prevalence of tee-ball which is often a young child’s first introduction to team sports, tennis is actually easier for beginners to learn.
Tennis is a popular ball-striking game that people of any age, gender, or skill level can enjoy. You don’t have to be a pro, or even a particularly good athlete. Tennis is not only easy to learn, but it is a lifetime activity that is fun to play and good for you.
Benefits of Tennis
- Tennis is a great cardio/aerobic exercise. The constant movement and action in tennis will burn calories, build muscle, increase bone strength, improve flexibility, and enhance overall health and fitness.
- Chasing balls up and down the court works your heart, lungs, and legs, while swinging at the ball strengthens your arms and improves your hand-eye coordination. (Children and teens should get at least 1 hour of moderate-intensity activity each day, with vigorous activity at least 3 days each week.)
- Tennis gets kids away from video games and engages both mind and body at the same time. Tennis requires alertness, develops tactical thinking, and promotes problem solving. Evidence suggests that tennis may even generate new connections between nerves and promote brain development.
- Learn sportsmanship, develop self-discipline, cope with pressure, manage mistakes, accept responsibility, gain self-confidence, and build healthy habits.
- The skills gained from tennis can be transferred to all sports (and life in general!)
Few sports offer the opportunities that tennis can for fun times with families and friends while getting a great workout. You don’t have to enroll in an expensive physical education program or join a team to play tennis. All you need is a ball and a racquet.
You can practice hitting your tennis ball against the side of a building, but it’s great to have at least one other person to play with. Find a friend and head to the nearest tennis court. Public tennis courts are available in communities across the US. They’re in local parks, schools, and residential subdivisions.
Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach
As we’ve shown, tennis is adaptable; it can be a team sport, but it can also be an individual sport. You can even practice tennis by yourself in the comfort of your own home, with a revolutionary product called Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach.
Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach is the first at-home training system designed and recommended by tennis professionals. The portable device trains players of all levels. Speed up the learning process and improve every time you practice, without having to waste time chasing balls! With only 5 – 30 minutes of daily use, here are some ways in which kids, teens, and adults can benefit from Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach:
- Perfect Tennis Practice: This system rapidly improves performance. Any level and any age will improve immediately with lasting results. Increase your Sweet Spot hits by over 40 percent. Practice 30 different ball-striking skills, including 17 strokes plus spins. Increase power, speed, and accuracy. Fine-tune hand-eye coordination. 100 percent of these skills transfer to the tennis court.
- At-Home Training: Allows you to practice anywhere, anytime, regardless of weather or if you can’t get to a court. All you need is 10 square feet of space in your backyard, on your patio, or even indoors. Practice better off-court with no distractions and more solid hits. Sets up in minutes to practice all by yourself or various players can use it in the same practice session. For example, you can have two players alternate shots; one can hit forehands and the other backhands.
- Fast Skill Improvement: Only 5 minutes per day with Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach trains your eye to focus correctly at point of contact. Gain 7x more repetitions than on the court. Unique ball-striking training dramatically reduces mishits, improves confidence, and creates permanent improvement.
- Breakthrough Design: The portable Eye Coach is the industry’s top tennis training aid. It’s simple to set up, weighs only 13 pounds, and fits inside a compact carrying bag with extra room for balls, shoes, water bottles. Makes practicing ANYWHERE effortless! Make it your personal trainer and ball machine.
- Improve Today And Forever: This is Billie Jean King’s gift to the tennis industry – a tennis system trusted and used by clubs, professionals, and trainers around the world. Just 5 minutes of Eye Coach simulated ball-striking reps equals 90 minutes on court. No other system does this. And now it’s available for families to use at home! You don’t need to pay for formal coaching or lessons.
Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach tennis training program is available in three versions:
- Professional Model – The height can be adjusted between 32 to 39 inches for players taller than 4 ft. 2 in.
- Junior Model – The height can be adjusted from 28.5 to 30.5 inches for players smaller than 4 ft. 2 in.
- Family Model – Best value! The Family Model is both Pro model and Junior model in one! Enables fun-filled quality practice for all size players in your family.
In case you’re wondering, the arm and base are exactly the same in all models, it’s just the center stem (vertical yellow tube) that’s different. The Family Model comes with two tubes, a taller and shorter one to accommodate players of all heights.
Whether you dream of being a famous homeschooled tennis player or just want an easy way to get a homeschool P.E. credit, Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach will help you. Go from total beginner to decent tennis player pretty quickly from watching YouTube instruction, practicing at a wall, and using the Eye Coach! The whole family can benefit from it!
There are lots of online instructional videos for the Eye Coach, hosted by tennis coach Ramon Osa. He says “I believe tennis is an incredibly fun sport. I’m also a USPTA certified tennis instructor that can teach you to play tennis the way the pros play, or give you a fun workout. I teach in a fun and relaxed environment so you a great time while you’re succeeding rapidly.” The videos will help add variety to your practice sessions.
The pros at Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach stand behind their product and offer the industry’s best guarantee. Use the Eye Coach for one year and if for any reason you’re not satisfied, just send it back for a full refund with no questions asked.
There’s no other sport you can play throughout your lifetime from the earliest ages to your latest years that gives you the physical, mental, emotional and social benefits that tennis gives you. Ready to take your tennis game to the next level? Looking for competition, social play, team camaraderie, or tournaments? Check with your local recreation center about facilities and classes, or use the locator tools at usta.com, the U.S. Tennis Association website, to find courts, partners, and more in your area.