Coaching Tips for Tennis
If you are a tennis coach, the following coaching tips will improve your work and coaching tennis students. Coaching tennis is undoubtedly an enjoyable job, but at the same time is requires a lot of responsibility. If you are passionate about tennis and are also keen to help others, you are in the right field, because you have what is needed.
The following tips are personal experiences and many years of mistakes and overcoming them. It is up to you to allow it to shorten your learning curve and make your practices much more enjoyable and more effective:
Before you start practicing, explain to the players that specific practice’s main goal. This way the players will feel more focused and motivated compared to if you just went ahead and began your lesson by hitting the ball around.
Pay attention to how many times you praise executions and also the amount of times you have to correct your players’ mistakes. Try not to make the mistake of only rectifying mistakes. This turns positive into negative and players will respond in a very negative way. You have to know that they are well aware that they have made a mistake and you don’t need to scar them with it. Let them hear more good than bad things. They need to stay motivated.
Here is a little task you could use the next time you step onto the court: Don’t correct players when they make a mistake. Don’t criticize them either. Instead, be quiet. Once you see a correct movement or a brilliant shot, praise them. Give it one week and you will see amazing things.
When your players are in the middle of a match, know that you cannot get them to play the way they usually do. The players need a little change. It is like imagining a ship out at sea. After time the ship will be closer to its destination. Think of your players this way. This is an important tip for tennis coaches.
Whatever you do, make sure that you do not just flip through a drill book and start mixing them. There has to be some sense to what you are doing. Sense will bring the best out of the players.
When you are busy practicing for a competition or tournament, implement fun drills and games. The players are tense and they need to loosen up. The anticipation of participating in the competition caused tension and that has accumulated and it is up to you help them lose it.
When working with females, know that they are really sensitive about their weakness, so they won’t really work on this. Concentrate on their strengths. Men on the other hand are willing to grind and file until it’s perfect. Of course, a majority of female and male players prefer this, but there are exceptions.
Don’t bring up too much of the next match at a tournament. You must not show that you are concerned about something. You should trust your players.