Hi, does the LTA totally restrict children from playing up a colour ball... All I can find is that they need to play 40 red balls and only after that in the season before they are 9 can they play orange. What if they are capable of orange at age 7? Is there nothing they can do except red?
The LTA were ridiculously strict on ages when the coloured ball mini tennis was introduced but I believe they have eased the restrictions a bit now. In small clubs kids had to train with the coloured ball that suited most of the participants in a group not necessarily the one they were allowed to compete with. Also, age does not always correspond to size and strength. I just had a quick look at their website and it says