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How to choose the right tennis coach

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Gospel of Matthew 7, verse 8.

I would like to draw the attention of parents whose children are already playing tennis or just want to start playing this sport. The first important step for a successful tennis education is to choose a coach or a tennis school. Often parents, when choosing, are not interested in the level of education a school provides. They are more concerned with logistics: how to get there faster, proximity to home, etc., and this is where the biggest mistake lies!

Imagine that your child is sick. And his or her illness requires special treatment. You wouldn’t go to a doctor with a bad reputation in your neighbourhood, would you? You would choose a good doctor who can provide the best treatment. Similarly, when it comes to your child’s tennis education, you need to make sure that the coach you choose has the right knowledge and experience to give your child the best developmental opportunities. And the reasoning that let him show something here first and then we’ll move him to a better school is often flawed. When you learn from a bad coach, you lose not only time, but also your opportunities for development in tennis. So choosing the right coach from the start is key to success.

If you have just brought your child to the initial selection group, I would advise you to pay attention to how the training is conducted. To distinguish good teaching from not very simple enough, count how many times the child hits the ball, if the count is in the hundreds, then everything is fine, if the count is in the tens, then do not stay in such a group. From the very first lessons, training should be full of kicks! It can be hits on balloons, on big balls, etc. The main thing is that it should be easy for the child to handle. The balls should be adequate to his development, then the lessons will be interesting and effective and allow the player to develop quickly. If the child stands in a queue with other children to hit the ball, and the rest of the time is spent on warm-up and show exercises, far from tennis, then run away from such a group, as the training will be long and ineffective and already at the initial stage of training the athlete will lag behind his peers who are engaged in a more effective programme.

So, dear parents, look for the best for your children, don’t make excuses for yourself, give your best!

That’s how I would advise you to proceed:

First of all, look at the coach’s CV: whether he or she has had a sporting career, what kind of education, but most importantly, what kind of work experience, what age groups of children he or she has worked with and what results his or her students have achieved. It is important to consider not only championships as children, but how their careers developed when they became adults.

You should realise that if a coach is young and taking the first steps in their career, if they have little experience and are working on their own without an experienced mentor, they are unlikely to be able to provide a good education for your child. After all, it is the young coach who is getting the first experience, not your child who is getting the education.

Statistics confirm that experienced coaches often achieve better results than novice coaches. For example, studies show that experienced coaches with more than 10 years of experience can improve the performance of their athletes by 30% compared to coaches with less than 5 years of experience. Additionally, experienced coaches often have broader knowledge and skills that can be beneficial to a child’s development not only in sports, but in life in general. They can teach a child ethics, responsibility, strategic thinking, and other important skills. Therefore, when choosing a coach for your child, you should pay attention to their experience and reputation. Experienced coaches who have a positive reputation and have been successful with their athletes will often be more effective in teaching your child.

There are also specialists who have many years of experience, but at the same time there are no special results for his pupils. These “pros” for many years have never been able to acquire professional skills for teaching children, because they have not set themselves goals and have never strived to succeed in their work. Their interests usually lie in other areas and work is just a means to maintain their standard of living. They have no interest in it, and, as we know, no incentive means no results.

The main advantage of such coaches is the ability to convincingly tell “fairy tales”, blaming everyone around for their failures, well, of course, in the vicissitudes of fate…

Run away from such “pros”, they have hundreds of disappointed children and parents under their belt.

It is important to realise that experience does not always guarantee quality work. In some cases, trainers may have many years of experience but may not have the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively teach and achieve results with students.

If a coach does not have positive feedback from parents and students, as well as results at competitions, it is worth considering whether it is worth contacting such a person. It is important to choose a coach who not only has experience, but has also proven his competence in working with students and achieving results. In addition, it is important to choose a trainer who is a good fit in terms of character and working methodology. Every trainer has a different approach to training and it may not always be right for you. Therefore, it is important to choose a coach that the student will feel comfortable with. As a result, when choosing a coach it is worth considering not only their experience, but also their results, feedback from others, and their approach and working methodologies to ensure the best possible outcome for the student.

There is a third category of coaches – the so-called “PR coaches”. They find capable children and start to load them with hours of training from the very childhood, which gives quick results at the initial stage. However, this approach can lead to overloading the body, improper technique and negative consequences for physical and psychological health as children grow older. If you look at the statistics, players who were champions as children almost never become professional athletes. One of the main reasons is a breakdown in coaching technology. Unfortunately, such coaches do not care about the health of children solely because of the pursuit of profit and image.