It is jarring to return a tennis serve seemingly coming out of nowhere, from a 7-year-old so tiny she barely appears above the net. It might be more jarring to hear her family talk about a time in the near future when that child might move 5,000 miles to train fulltime.

Such is the life of Katreina Corpuz, whose 50 pounds are distributed over a frame that stands 50 inches high. She will be a second-grader at Punahou in August, if tennis teaching gurus Nick Bollettieri and Rick Macci don't make her an offer her family cannot refuse.

The family just took Katreina to Florida to attend a weeklong program at Bollettieri's in Bradenton and a daylong session at Macci's academy in Deerfield. Bollettieri is best known for his work with Andre Agassi, Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova. Macci, who encourages parents to sit on-court during lessons and interact with staff, also worked with Sharapova, along with Jennifer Capriati, Andy Roddick and the Williams sisters.

"Nick is the best motivator in the game and Rick is the very best in the world with this age group," said Brigham Young-Hawai'i tennis coach Dave Porter, who works with Katreina. "Katreina will find out whether the hard work she has put into her game so far has built a solid foundation on which to grow or whether these coaches feel there are areas that need special attention."

TRAINING WITH ELITE

Reinaldo Corpuz, a special education teacher at Pu'uhale Elementary School and certified USPTA instructor, said before the trip he thought his daughter would be working fulltime at one of the academies in the next two years. When the academy visits were over, he was convinced he and Porter were on the right path here and his new plan was to visit Macci's academy "about twice a year" while keeping fulltime training in mind.

"We will always keep our options open to training fulltime year-round at one of the tennis academies in Florida," Corpuz e-mailed from Florida. "But for now, we love Hawai'i. In fact, we are all missing Hawai'i as I write this."

At Bollettieri's, Katreina trained with some 75 juniors from around the world, most older than 10. She was put in a group of 10- to 12-year olds most of the week for drills, conditioning, matches and "mental conditioning." The family was encouraged to seek a partial scholarship.

Corpuz says Macci has already offered to provide housing accommodations for Katreina to train year-round. Macci worked with Katreina for an hour — at $300 per — and she spent the rest of the day with his staff while he supervised. Corpuz said the feedback from the coaches about Katreina's potential was extremely encouraging.

Tuition at either academy is comparable to that of a private college. The Corpuz family — mother Ellen is a graphic designer — sees it as an investment in a dream. Katreina talks about it as "kind of like sleeping over at somebody's house ... kind of like college but different because you don't go to school Saturdays at college."

DEVELOPING TALENT

Why would a family be prepared to pick up and move completely across the country to follow a child so young, and a dream? The Corpuzes believe Katreina is something special and Porter, who has coached 11 national championship teams, backs that to a certain extent.

He has "thoroughly enjoyed working with the family" and characterizes Katreina as "different from most children her age, with respect to tennis, because she not only loves to play and compete but Katreina loves to learn. She asks questions, she listens, and she is willing to change."

His advice now is to let Katreina set her own limits so her enthusiasm is not diminished. Her work ethic and focus are exceptional for a child her age, according to Porter, and her skills and ability to apply instruction are beyond her years.

"At this time she wants to be great," Porter said. "Parents, coaches, etc. need to assist her in reaching her dream not make it their dream. ... She has very good potential to become an outstanding player. However, she is young and I wouldn't want to put too much pressure on her at this stage of her development."

How much is too much for someone who hasn't been 7 an entire month? Katreina, whose cousin Allisen Corpuz is one of the best junior golfers in Hawai'i, picked up the game just before turning 4.

"I saw players on TV and wanted to be one of them," she recalled. "I kept practicing really hard on groundstrokes and footwork. I really liked the shots."

Her father, a high school and league player, took her to the backyard to hit on a concrete slab. "I was surprised that without any tennis instruction she would hit the ball correctly," he said. "I thought 'Wow.' There are kids 8, 9, 10 that didn't have the strokes this 3-year-old had.

"The first time she hit a ball, I knew she had something special. The more I worked with her confirmed it. I thought I was just being a proud dad, so I got others' opinions and everyone agreed."

SHINING ON COURT

Suddenly, her father said, people began gravitating to Katreina thinking "she was an 8-year-old kid in a small body." She thrived with the attention. Soon he was having to "drag her off the court" because she couldn't get enough.

She can hit all the shots and does, pretty much every day, playing points often with older players — including Porter's Seasiders. She mimics their movement and their styles.

Her game is good, maybe even great for someone so young. But it is hard to gauge her phenom quotient when there are so few competitors her age, and her parents are reluctant to let her compete much.

ACHIEVING GOALS

"Our goal is to develop physically and help develop her skill," Corpuz said. "In Hawai'i, there is not really much competition in her age group. If she won, it would just go to her head. ... Dave felt the same. We feel as long as she enjoys tennis, she doesn't need the competition."

That would come in Florida, if Florida offers come to Katreina. Corpuz believes tennis players peak as teenagers and figures his daughter has 10 years to train and can go to college after a tennis career. Her only limitation now, he said, is her size.

"This is her goal and we're trying to support it," he said. "If she decides she doesn't want it, fine with me because she's got so much going for her."

For instance, Katreina likes to read, spend time with her 2-year-old "Cutie Pie" sister Katelyn and critique movies — "Spiderman 3 is way better than the second one." Florida also offers more than tennis.

"When I'm not playing," Katreina said, "I'm going to be at SeaWorld or Disney World."

Hard to tell where reality ends and dreams begin.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.