Coaching Tennis

Thought I would get a little off course today and talk about the art of  coaching tennis and what key factor play a role, in becoming a good coach. Are you striving to be the best?

First thing is we need to commit 100% to our students, I was just talking about this in a discussion yesterday, and that is we all need to do a self-evaluation on where we are as coaches, then what we need to do to improve. And do it.

The goal of every coach should be  to help grow the game and also become a students of the game and stay one, what I have tried to do personally is make the game more simple for my students, by talking less and observing more, this is after I have demonstrated the stroke, then I stay very quiet watching and giving advice when needed.

I feel modern teaching is feeding 1000s of balls to our students, having them adjust after every swing, and then what will happen in this development stage is the stroke will develop on it’s own! That’s the secret to teaching the game, I’m open to advice, but for now I’m going to continue to use this method, please try it yourself too, man, does it work!

One more thing, put your heart and soul into your work, alway go to work in a spirit that is positive and upbeat, I know shouldn’t have to say this but, a lot of us need to look at this part of our coaching and make sure we are coaching on purpose!

Keep asking yourself, is my passion coaching tennis!

 

Where is your game now?

I’m writing this one for all the players who are stuck now with their game and trying to break through, I will give you the secret here today, and its going to be so obvious to your that you are going to laugh at the fact that you couldn’t realize it yourself.

 

Okay, the fact is all you have to do now is get out of your own way in your development, I mean mentally remove yourself from the developing process, so you can let your body instinct take over, this will activate all your muscle memories to work together. Your over trying is holding you back from discovering your game right now, thats the secret folks. 

 

Its really simple when you think about it for a moment, this is the inner game that so few of us get. We have to master this inner game of tennis, if we want to take our game to the next level.

We make the game more  difficult then it really is, just like we do in life more complicated then it needs to be, all we need to do is simplify, that always works better. 

 In tennis, it boils down to finding the ball and finishing the stroke, stay focus on doing that in a natural way, mentally flow with your game, now you are doing the opposite, fighting it, hence, the reason why you can’t move forward. 

We can all learn from this post today, feel the game and enjoy it! 

Now take action today.

 

Find The Flow

Notice how every match has a different flow to it, so the job for you is to find your flow during the match. This can only work if you go with the flow, it can’t be force, you must allow it to happen on its own.

Just think about it as getting into harmony with your game and the match, its good to have a plan, but then be ready to adjust it during the match.

Develop the ability to counter your opponents play at will, this comes from playing experience over a long period of time.

Always learn from your matches, write a summary and try to improve your focus more after every match, thats has to start in practice, to get the most out of practice you need to keep your intensity at a high level, no matter how the day is going.

This builds up your mental powers, which will give you the edge on your opponent.

Keep in mind, everything is flowing either positive or negative, thats makes your main goal to learn how to flow positively with your game. Anger and frustration only negates your play, so don’t allow it to enter your mind at all. 

So what I want you to do for the next 21 days, thats right 21 days, implement the ideas in this blog and run with them, make them part of you game for life. Then watch how easy it is to flow with your game. 

Stay in flow, so your game will grow!

 

Coaching Tennis

Today’s tip is for the coaches out there, who aren’t coaching on purpose, you know who you are. You have two choices here, do something else or step up your game and get committed to being the best coach that you can be. Yeah, I forgot, you owe it to the game.

 

I have been coaching for 18 years now and can’t think of anything else I would rather be doing with my life, tennis is a my passion, so when you find your passion, it should show to anyone who watches you coach. This is what is missing in todays coaching, I’m also on a mission to correct it, I will be giving seminars for coaches in the future in the US and Canada for coaches, so keep a eye out for them.

The goal of a tennis coach is to connect with his players and parents and then stay connected with them by having a open and honest relationship with them while they are you clients, never do anything to put that at risk,ever. Commit 100% to your students, thats means you are giving them everything you have to make sure they reach their goals.

In this  developing process, focus on building  character in your players, tennis does reveal how much or lack of it that we  have in us, just go to work on building theirs up as soon as possible. You can  start by helping them develop a positive attitude and a self-belief system that can’t be questioned. I say this all the time, thats the foundation for all the player out there, so it has to be solid. 

I give my players positive books to read often to feed their heads, and  then I ask them to keep a journal to write down everything that is happening in with their tennis game, this is for their eyes only, so they can be very honest in their writing. What this does is it expand their thinking and purify their thoughts, which is very powerful at the end of the day. Thats why they have to keep a record of their daily progress.

Coaching tennis is learning something new about the game everyday,  so that you can use  it to make yourself a better coach daily, lead by example, stay positive no matter what happens during the season. This alone has impacted my coaching career and the same can happen for you. But you have to make sure that you are coaching on purpose(ask yourself would you like to be doing anything else instead of coaching), then go from there.

Now is the time to decide what you are going to do, it all start with commitment!

I watch a lot of coaches just going through the motions out there here in japan and abroad, thats not good for the game or YOU! The answer to the above question can direct your future, its up to you to answer it, for once just get serious about your coaching career.