About RallySteps

Where do RallySteps drills come from?

Updated 6 October 2026 · RallySteps

Most RallySteps cards are built on the home practice tennis federations give young players: the Play at Home activities in USTA Net Generation plans, Tennis Australia Hot Shots games, Tennis Canada's activity cards and the LTA's at-home drills. The balance and movement cards draw on FIFA 11+ Kids, a children's warm-up programme tested in a large trial.

Which programmes are the drills based on?

We started from the activities federations already give children to practise between lessons, rather than inventing new ones:

USTA Net Generation (US): each Red and Orange Ball practice plan ends with a short Play at Home challenge. Most of our racket cards start here.
Tennis Australia Hot Shots: games from the red and orange stages, such as rolling rallies and colour-call footwork.
Tennis Canada: the activity cards for its youngest players, such as Egg on the Pan and Balloon Bob.
LTA (UK): at-home drills for young players, such as Switch Catch.
FIFA 11+ Kids: a warm-up programme for children with balance, landing and strength exercises, used for our movement cards.

Which red ball cards come from federation activities?

RallySteps card	Based on
Egg and Spoon	USTA “Balance the Egg” and Tennis Canada “Egg on the Pan”
Walk the Dog	USTA “Walk the Dog”
Bump-Up Tower	USTA “Jacks” and bump-ups
Onesies and Twosies	USTA “Jacks” (Onesies to Fivesies)
Bungee Jump	USTA “Bungee Jump”
Ninja Chops	USTA “Edgies” and Tennis Canada “Ninja Chops”
Balloon Keepy-Up	Tennis Canada “Balloon Bob”
Catapult	Tennis Canada “Catapult”
Wall Ball	USTA “Toss to Wall and Catch”
Rolling Rally	Tennis Australia Hot Shots “Rolling rally” and LTA “Floor Tennis”
Colour Dash	Tennis Australia Hot Shots “Cone Code”
Switch Catch	LTA “Switch Catch”
Tightrope Walk	USTA “Tightrope walk”

For more games at this stage, see red ball tennis drills and games for kids.

Which orange ball cards come from federation activities?

RallySteps card	Based on
Forehand, Backhand Wall	USTA Orange Ball “Alternate Wall Rally”
Volley Wall	USTA Orange Ball “Volley to Wall”
Slice and Dice	USTA Orange Ball “Slice and Dice”
Trophy Pose Serve	Tennis Australia Hot Shots Orange overarm serve lessons
Figure 8 Weave	USTA Orange Ball “Figure 8 Cone Weaves”
Compass Jumps	USTA Orange Ball “Compass Jumps”

For more at this stage, see orange ball tennis drills and games for kids.

Where do the balance and movement cards come from?

Tennis needs balance, quick feet and soft landings, so some cards are not tennis drills at all. Several come from FIFA 11+ Kids, a warm-up programme for children aged 7 to 13. In a large trial with youth football teams, teams that used it had about half as many injuries as teams that did their usual warm-up.

Flamingo uses its single-leg stance.
Hop and Stick uses its skating jumps: land on one leg and hold.
Bridge uses its press-up hold.
Freeze Feet uses its running game where children stop on one leg.

We use these movements because they suit young players. We do not claim RallySteps prevents injuries: the trial tested the full programme in football, not our cards.

How are the drills changed for home?

Small space, soft ball. Cards need a clear area, a racket and a soft or red ball. The plan skips cards that need kit you do not have.
Short rounds. A day is a few cards of a minute or two each, about ten minutes in all. See how much should a young child practise tennis?
Shown, then spoken. Each card shows the move first, then a voice counts along, so your child does not need to read.
Levels that follow your child. Levels start from age and move with your child's own answers after each card.
One jumping card a day at most, and never on two days in a row.

Most cards name their source in the app too: in the grown-ups area, each of today's cards shows where it comes from.

Does practising at home with a parent help?

The research points the same way: short, structured practice at home, with a grown-up involved, builds the skills young children use in sport.

A parent-and-child app trial. In a 2022 trial published in Pediatrics, parents of 72 children aged 3 to 5 used an app for 12 weeks, about 12 minutes a day, five days a week. Children whose parents followed structured skill lessons improved their movement and ball skills, while children given free play ideas did not. The difference was still there 12 weeks after the programme ended.
Dads and daughters (DADEE). In two Australian trials, fathers and daughters aged 4 to 12 took part in an 8 to 9 week programme of weekly sessions plus activities at home. The girls became more active, and their movement skills, such as catching, throwing and kicking, improved far more than in families who waited for the programme. The gains were still there at follow-up.
Why ball skills matter later. Australian researchers tested children's catching, throwing and kicking at primary school and followed them up about six years later. In their 2009 paper, children who were good at these skills had a 10 to 20% higher chance of doing vigorous activity as teenagers. A 2008 paper from the same study found that part of this link came from children feeling more confident at sport.

None of these studies tested RallySteps or tennis. They do suggest that a few minutes of structured, playful practice with a grown-up nearby is time well spent. RallySteps is built so your child can play on their own, and a few cards are made for a child and a grown-up together.

Is RallySteps endorsed by these federations?

No. RallySteps is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any tennis federation or sports organisation. We name the programmes so you can see where each idea started and read the originals, which are listed below.

More guides

Sources

This guide is general information for parents, not medical advice. Check with your child's coach or doctor about their own situation.