What age can my child start?

Ages 5 and up. The red-ball format was designed specifically for that age range and gives even a five-year-old real rallies from the first day.

Do you run junior tournaments or team travel?

Coaching only — no tournament travel. But junior students are supported at USTA-sanctioned events with pre-tournament preparation, and I coach between rounds by phone or in person when logistics allow.

How much are junior group clinics?

Junior group clinics are $30 per session. Private junior lessons match adult rates at $80/hour. Package pricing for 5 or 10 private lessons is available.

Private or group for my child?

For most juniors under 10, group is a great starting point — kids learn faster with peers. Older juniors and tournament players benefit from a mix of one private lesson per week plus one group.

Can you help with high-school team tryouts?

Yes. A common request is a 6-8 lesson block in the weeks leading up to tryouts, focused on the specific strokes and match play the local coaches use to evaluate.

Indianapolis Tennis Coach | Adult & Junior Lessons

Kids do not need a scaled-down adult curriculum — they need a program built around how children actually learn movement, timing, and competition. That is what junior tennis lessons in Indianapolis are with Bruce Hartrich. The teaching model follows the USTA red-orange-green pathway for younger players and shifts to full-court, adult-style coaching as juniors move into middle-school and high-school competition.

Bruce has coached juniors from first-time five-year-olds through Division I college signees. The philosophy is developmental first, competitive second — a junior who is having fun and building technique correctly at age 10 will out-improve a junior who is winning too much too early with bad habits. When the competition years come, the foundation is there.

Red, orange, and green ball

Younger juniors start on shorter courts with slower, lower-bouncing balls. This is not "kid tennis" — it is the fastest known way to build real technique because kids get long rallies from day one, not two-ball misses for an hour. Red ball is for ages 5-8, orange for 8-10, green for 10-12, and yellow (full court) from there. Progression is based on skill, not age.

Ages 12-14 — the technique window

The middle-school years are when technical work sticks fastest. Between the ages of roughly 12 and 14 juniors have enough coordination to build advanced strokes and enough patience to drill them properly. Lessons at this age focus heavily on stroke fundamentals, footwork patterns, and the beginnings of tactical thinking.

Tournament-track juniors

For juniors playing USTA sanctioned tournaments, sessions add match-play analysis, tactical patterns, and mental-game routines that hold up under scoreboard pressure. Video is used more heavily at this level, and lesson plans are built around the tournament calendar — build-up, peaking, recovery, then repeat.

High-school team prep

Late-summer sessions target the strokes and conditioning that show up in tryouts. Ideal for players hoping to make varsity for the first time, or returning varsity players who want to move up the ladder. Local high-school coaches know the players trained here — several current varsity number-ones came through this program.

Group clinics for juniors

Junior group clinics are $30 per session, capped at six players, and grouped by both age and skill. A seven-year-old first-timer is never paired with a 14-year-old tournament player. Groups are the most social format and where most young juniors make their first tennis friends.

Junior Tennis Lessons in Indianapolis

Red, orange, and green ball

Ages 12-14 — the technique window

Tournament-track juniors

High-school team prep

Group clinics for juniors

Frequently Asked Questions

Where I offer Junior Tennis Lessons in Indianapolis

Related services

Beginner Tennis Lessons in Indianapolis

Tennis Tournament Preparation in Indianapolis

High Performance Tennis Coaching in Indianapolis