Working  from LTA guidelines, juniors ( boys and girls mixed ) are organised into groups for lessons, primarily based on age.

Up until the age of 11 years, junior players play with tennis balls that have a lower compression than traditional yellows balls, meaning they are less ' bouncy ' and consequently easier for the juniors to play tennis with.

There are four types of tennis balls; each with a different level of compression ( bounce )

The lowest compression is the Red Ball, followed by the Orange Ball, the Green Ball and finally the Yellow Ball.

In summary ;

JUNIORS MINI-RED           -   Up to 8 years old.

JUNIORS MINI-ORANGE   -  8-9 years old.

JUNIORS MIN-GREENS    - 10 years old. 

JUNIORS YELLOW BALL  -  11 plus years old.

With the Saturday morning group coaching due to the varying groups , some children in a group may play with a different ball colour ot others in the same group.

This traffic light method for putting juniors into groups is consistent with LTA guidelines and is mirroed in most tennis clubs in the UK. In addition to making tennis easier and more fun to play for juniors, the consistent use of tennis ball types across the country means that when a junior possibly plays a game or  match against another of similar age, they can be sure of playing on the same level and using the same ball type.