Transition Balls are They Really The Cat's Pyjamas?

The eye asked Clem Apted The Piako Tennis Coach about what he thought of transition balls... here's what he said...For some time now I have been using Transition Balls in my Coaching Programme and I find them invaluable especially for beginners. Naturally a ball bouncing lower suits a child who is naturally lower! Just get on your hands and knees and hit a few yellow  balls and you will see what I mean. It’s difficult for kids to hit a ball around their shoulders. Naturally for the more advanced kids the sooner they start hitting the yellow balls the better, another point is it’s difficult to hit hard heavy balls with little Racquets. I realise that Coaches have to fork out a lot of money to purchase the different grades of balls when yellow balls are generally much cheaper or even free!. Coaches these days are expected to spend a lot of money on balls, mini nets and kids Racquets, on top of traveling etc. I can appreciate why many Coaches don’t bother joining NZ  Tennis, together with the cost of a first aid certificate and then equipment it’s a big outlay before they even start.  Getting away from Transition Balls , it would be great to hear what other Coaches think about what is happening with Tennis in NZ, how things could be improved, should we have an Association of Coaches independent of NZ Tennis to protect our lively hood?. Coaches are very vulnerable, you could loose your coaching position in an instant , and the Contract with the Club or employer means absolutely nothing.  If only NZ Tennis valued the contribution of Coaches in NZ. I have been critical of NZ Tennis and have offered some suggestions of how they could improve the relationship between Coaches and them, but it seems any criticism levelled at them, has resulted in me being ‘blacklisted’.   I have read Steve Dries Blog and have seen negative criticism of Steve Johns CEO of NZ Tennis, perhaps Johns and people that  make anonymous comments could be more public, the more dialogue the better for our sport, Regards Clem Apted. The Photo, is Clem’s cat who is a big fan of Prince balls!