How to select a tennis coach

How do most parents select a tennis coach for their children? The usual answer is out of convenience. Who can blame them? Adding an extra few hours of driving time each week to get to the “right” pro for your child can be downright difficult.

Unfortunately, all tennis coaches are not the same and never will be. They are all different, and not all of them will be a match for your child’s specific needs and nature. Consider selecting a teacher or coach for your child in two phases.

PHASE ONE: START-UP

No matter what age your child starts playing tennis, the start-up phase or first year is arguably the most critical part of their career. Why? If their experience is not positive, they may never pick up a racquet again! Although this may sound extreme and the exception rather than the rule, consider that industry insiders say that at least 90% of those who start playing as children will stop playing by the time they finish high school. Although a tennis program is conveniently located, it doesn’t mean much if your child only plays for a month or two and then quits because their individual needs are not sufficiently met.

Here are 5 key components of tennis classes to look for before enrolling your beginning child:

Key #1 Peers – By the time children are in school, the influence of peers, both good and bad, is tremendous. For tennis, look for a facility that has a group of children of similar age and ability to your child.

Key #2 Fun – If you are watching a group lesson to see if your child will fit in, be sure to look at the faces of the children at the beginning of the class and at the end. If they are smiling and look happy both at the start and finish, you’re in good shape. You can also test the “fun” component by sitting near the court and closing your eyes. Try to listen for the laughter. If you can’t hear it, something’s wrong.

Key #3 Creativity – The 490 feet of lines on a tennis court just do not create a visually interesting environment. Since the interest in tennis is generated by a moving ball and beginners cannot hit a large variety of shots, it is up to the teachers to create visual interest. Make sure your child’s potential teachers use different types of visual training aids in each and every lesson. Yes, bells and whistles help students keep their focus, which leads to greater success and student retention.

Key #4 Cooperative Learning – Instead of a group tennis lesson with the pro feeding balls and giving long-distance instructions across the net to four students standing in lines waiting to be fed balls for most of the lesson, look for a cooperative learning environment. This consists of students feeding balls to one another and the pro freely roving from student to student, encouraging them and making corrections. In this scenario, the students will hit more balls - one out of every two, instead of one out of every four if they stand in a line (if there are four children in the group). Some line drills are fine, but not as a consistent pattern.

Key #5 Self-esteem – The final large issue to keep in mind when selecting a teacher for your child is the issue of self-esteem. Simply put, we must understand that a child will only keep playing tennis if his or her self-esteem increases by playing. Do they feel good about themselves? Do they see and feel a chance of becoming a success through playing? To quantify this when observing a lesson, just look at a child’s success-to-failure ratio. In other words, is each child in the class succeeding more than failing in most tasks and activities? If they aren’t, chances are they will not keep playing for long!

PHASE TWO: COMPETITION

Once your child enters the competitive phase of junior tennis, you are among the elite number of parents with another set of considerations in selecting a coach. This is a much more complex world than when you were merely selecting a “start-up” teacher for your child.

First, you must consider the same four points discussed above in the start-up phase.  Then, add the fact that the coach will typically be working with your junior player through his or her teen years, a phase that creates a whole different set of unique demands for both girls and boys. Here are some other considerations for you to keep in mind in your selection process:

1. Success Breeds Success

As simple as it sounds, look for a coach with a track record of keeping students in his or her program for a long time. However, this can be more difficult than it appears, since many successful tennis coaches graduate into administrative positions, leaving less experienced coaches without track records to deal with the day-to-day needs of the players. Therefore, just because a particular club or facility has a lot of players and a good reputation does not necessarily mean it will continue. Try to catch a good coach who has a track record and will continue their hands-on coaching for years to come.

2. Mentor Program

I have seen the dynamic effect of mentor programs too many times not to mention it here. Successful junior programs have many levels of players and mentorship programs. This means that the older and more skilled players will spend some supervised time each week working with the younger players. This creates an environment of high motivation and inspiration for the younger players and creates a wonderful mood of cooperation and team spirit.

3.  Effort Over Results

The final point to remember is that only a small percentage of junior tennis players will go on to compete at the high school level, and an even smaller percentage will play collegiate tennis. Look at tennis as a healthy vehicle in which children can learn real-life skills that will stay with them through their developmental years and beyond. The best coaches set performance goals for the child and let the results follow. The point is that if effort and attitude are rewarded, your child will have a solid foundation on which to succeed. But if too much emphasis is placed on winning and losing, the chance of truly winning is practically nonexistent.

FINAL WORDS

The tips in this article are designed to make your tennis teacher selection more scientific and less coincidental. The final question to ask yourself in observing your child’s potential teacher or coach is whether he or she is having fun themselves? If they are, chances are the students will also. You’ll HEAR IT in the pro’s voice, SEE IT on his or her face, and KNOW IT by how quickly everyone picks up balls after a drill. They will also pass the “watch-your-watch” test. If they are having fun, they will NOT be looking at their watch or phone to see if the class is almost over. Most importantly, if they’re excited and having fun, chances are your child will be excited as well.