A tennis coach is one of the essentials!

This afternoon I was watching several coaches working at my two favourite sports clubs, tennis and rugby. I've worked at both of them before, so I know what they're going through. I don't do it any more because of time limitations, but I'm glad I'm not doing it any more for other reasons.
 

A tennis culture near you

When I worked in club coaching I knew that what I was doing was only about 25 % effective. I felt I was a superb teaching professional, and I enjoyed my work enormously.

I remember when I left my last full-time job in Germany, there was a big club meeting for parents and committee. One of the parents, not really a tennis player, had two children in my training. He knew that I was on the point of leaving. He spoke up, "We have had five years of Dave, winter and summer. Whatever else you say about this period and his work, just take a look at our tennis courts. Not only are there children everywhere playing tennis, but they all hit the ball beautifully. They have been well coached." It was the proudest club moment in my life. A few days later I walked away from it, never to return.

I entered the world of lower grade professional tennis. I had in fact been dabbling with it for several years, especially in my early days in Germany when I had a lot of contact with ATP and WTA players serving out contracts in Germany. I wasn't such a good club pro then, BECAUSE I was dabbling in other things. Later, when I was very committed to one particular club, I did a very good job. However, my real professional interest, in match tennis, took a back seat at this time. As soon as I had taken my club juniors as far as they were going to go, I had to go.
 

Parents can be positive

In Germany there was a huge variety of coaches on the courts. Cheap ones, old ones, flash ones and rogues. The tennis boom was in full flow. I was there. It was so so exciting. It didn't trouble me that I had a lot of competition, even competitors who tried to elbow me off their patch. I thrived in seeing and living tennis in such a bouyant period.

By seeing a lot of different types, you then can see a coach who you like, or recommend. I had already had a terrible coaching experience when I was younger, so I knew what I would want if I paid my DM 40.
 

 
Found a good club?

I also recognised many tennis teachers who had certain interesting qualities, maybe superior to mine, but limitations too.

I remember one girl who was superb in kiddies tennis. She clucked and mothered her way through lessons with great skill. Her lessons didn't have great tennis value, but they all had fun, thought positively of tennis and their teacher. Nothing wrong with this.

There was another, in fact a man who must have been approaching sixty years old, who was the most amazing ball machine. He had a big ball basket, but he stood at the back. That in itself was a bit unusual. There were many many coaches who never actually hit a ball with their pupils, simply fed balls from a basket from the net. (As you can tell, I hated this sort of trainer more than any other). No, this old boy fed from the back, and with the most excruciating technique managed to keep the ball in play for hours on end every day. If the ball went in his corners he just let it go and fed the next ball! He couldn't run more than one step. He also didn't say much (which I also rather like), but just took his money for being a practice partner. If you liked playing against someone who scrapes every ball back with the most frightful, uncomfortable, contacts, then he was the man for you.

Then there was another one who had a great big long beard, also much older than me. He also hit quite willingly from the back, but he was a touch player, so he floated half hit slices at you all day, just pushing the ball in. He was calm, and well-humoured, and people liked him. I had to respect all of these people. I was never going to be one of them, nor did I want to be. But they did fill in a hole in the market.
 

A coach marketing himself

Back to my experience this afternoon. I was at each training site to make some videos, and I came away disappointed. On the one site were two teachers. One the senior, well qualified, was supervising a less experienced, but enthusiastic, girl. The training session was with a group of four rather talented 12 year olds. The hitting was irregular, unthinking and pointless. These children get one hour of tennis per week, and the coaches were just "letting the children play." I had nothing, I repeat, nothing, to film.
 

Need a French tournament tour next month?

On the second, bigger, site, there were different age groups on different courts, with different assistants, all under the supervision of a coach with whom I worked quite closely a few years back. He was a very senior Federation coach until his position was removed, and he went into civilian life. He now has a normal job, and does a bit of coaching in his spare time. He is a very good teacher, very technical, very demanding, but also ready to let a session run its course without too much input, if the level is good. I respect his method a lot.

However, I haven't seen his training for a few years, since he stopped full time. I notice that his training isn't as it used to be. He was not so insistent, didn't have the control. Most of the children, and the assistants, were simply getting through the afternoon by having some fun. Maybe my friend knew that now, with his limited implication in these children's lives, just once a week, and his limited scope for bringing these children to a higher level, he too had reduced his level. This of course made me sad.

I haven't met many coaches for whom I have had such respect, but I didn't want to see him like this. I know also, back in his Federation days, that he was not happy. Although he had access to the best players and conditions, he complained non stop about other things - his Federation coaching colleagues, administrators, finance, programmes, parents, facilities.

Now he is doing his own little thing, with a much more limited group. I'm going to chuck out a lot of the video film I took on his site today too.