Kate asks for tips on how to make George a little smasher at tennis
High fives with a princess… a young lad meets Kate during the children’s practice at Roehampton yesterday THE Duchess of Cambridge picked up some tips on how to teach Prince George to play tennis on a visit to the home of the game yesterday.
In casual sports gear that cost £549, Kate, a keen player, went to the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, south-west London, in her role as patron of the Lawn Tennis Association.
The Duchess, who is more than three months pregnant with her third child due in April, showed no sign of the severe morning sickness that had forced her to cancel engagements in September.
Excited
Dressed for action in a £129 PlayBrave track top, £250 Monreal track pants and £170 Nike trainers, Kate confessed: “I used to play a lot of tennis but I’m a bit unfit now.”
She asked coach Sam Richardson for tips on how to teach the game to four-year-old George.
Mr Richardson, who heads the LTA’s Tennis for Kids grassroots programme, said: “She says with George just being four he wants to whack a ball so she was asking what sort of stuff should she be doing. They will struggle at that age to hit a ball.
“She said he’s interested in it but more in whacking the ball. You have to wait for them to show an interest. That’s the most important thing.”
He added: “She said she spoke to Judy Murray and she suggested taking away the racket and do more of the basic stuff, which is absolutely right. But four-year-old boys want to swing the racket around.”
The Duchess, accompanied by her new private secretary Catherine Quinn for the first time on an engagement, took part in a gentle children’s training session.
It included a knockabout with some infants who were “very excited to meet a princess”, according to British number one Johanna Konta.
She joined in the session with Kate as an ambassador for the Tennis for Kids scheme for five to eight-yearolds. Konta said: “It was good fun. She’s lovely.”