“From Teacher to Friend”

The Evolution of the Coach
I have been lucky enough to have worked with some of the same players from the beginning in
regional programmes to the circuit. I have learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way
regarding the role of the coach in each stage of player development. In Ireland, we have a
long-term player pathway, which describes in detail what the players need to have in each
stage. However, should the role of the coach remain the same at all times? This article is not
based on scientific knowledge; it is based on my philosophy as a coach, mostly from my
experience with players on this long journey to the top in professional tennis. I have broken the
role of the coach into three main stages:
(1) Beginning the game
(2) The teenage tennis years
(3) Playing the circuit

The Coach in the Beginning

Firstly, I feel the responsibility of the coach at this stage is to build the love of the game in the
player. This is achieved in many ways. I feel the coach himself should try to find ways to
achieve this keeping in mind that all players are not the same. Every session should include a
lot of Fun. It is important to have a sense of humour and lots of fun games that can be thrown
in to break up the sessions. The coach should have a good eye for detail and be able to teach
the key technical skills required for the future. We should make the learning challenging at
each stage and this can be achieved by setting goals on a regular basis. However, setting
goals is not enough, the coach should also make it a point to evaluate the goals at the end of
each term and ensure the players see the results. Even when the players are young, the coach
should make a point of planning every session. This is something all successful coaches have
in common. Even after fifteen years coaching on court, I will never go on court without a plan. I
feel that building the confidence of the player is key. Everything that the players do in their
lives; from school to sport, have an influence on their confidence, and we should be aware of
this when they arrive down to the club for their first tennis lesson. The coach should have a
passion for the game and indeed a passion for coaching. Passion has a big influence on
practice and passion has a big influence on performance. Always being keen to learn and
Curious is an important characteristic of a top coach. I suggest spending thirty minutes per
day, studying new developments in the game. Finally, Communication plays a major role at
each stage of the coach’s development. The coach should be aware of the different methods of
communication and what works best for each individual athlete.
Teenage Tennis Years
Keep in mind that all of the above points are still important at this stage. However, this stage of
player development may prove difficult for the coach. (In fact, I am blaming my players for the
increase of grey hairs over the last ten years!). The players often think at this stage that they
know more than the coach. I feel that making the players responsible at this stage is the key.
We, as coaches should “Make the players so responsible that they don’t need the coach
anymore”. The parents need to play a major role in this process; I have had many experiences
of parents packing the bags, carrying the racquets etc. I feel that even from a very young age
the players should take on the role of preparing all necessary equipment for both training and
matches.Responsibility also plays a major role in performance. When the match is tight and the coach
can’t do anything, who will take the responsibility? Mum or Dad? I like to make agreements
with my athletes. These are normally linked to behaviour. We make the agreement together
that also includes what they expect from the coach. At this stage the player will be developing
their individual game style; the coach needs a good knowledge of Tactical development.
They need to understand the game style that best fits in with the technical, tactical, physical
and mental needs of the individual player. The coach needs to understand the differences
between producing girls and boys for professional tennis. The game is different in men’s and
women’s tennis on the circuit and trying to make a woman play like a man is not physically
possible because of issues such as strength development.
The coach should be “open to talk” at all times and really prepared to take the athletes
feelings into account. The coach should offer support when the players do not perform as well
as expected. The hardship can often be greater for the coach when the player loses than the
players themselves. The coach has to hide this emotion and find a way to pick the player
back up again. Try to take the positive things from the match and solve the negative things in
the next weeks training sessions. After all, it’s easy to be the coach when the player is winning,
but you can’t win all the time.

Progression to the Circuit
At this stage the player should have taken on the main responsibility for their tennis. The
training should be done mostly on the road. Firstly the coach should be a Friend, somebody
that the player likes to spend time around. The coach should be able to make the player feel
good because “feeling good means performing good”. They should feel that it is possible to
discuss things that happen both on and off the court. Often things that happen off the court
have a big influence on performance and the coach with more life experience may be able to
help the athlete understand things better. Understanding the annual planning of an elite
athlete is very important at all stages. At this stage it is necessary to know the different circuits
of events and the link with the training programme of the player. It is important to know what
works for your player as regards match preparation and evaluation. We should always take
time to evaluate both the matches and the programmes with our players. You have to be
honest with the player, if you feel something relevant about the player’s performance you
have to be honest and let them know. You can’t always say what you think the player wants to
hear, I believe that the honest part should often come with a positive part. You have to pick
your moment properly and make sure you also include the positive parts. I believe a lot in the
“positive sandwich approach”. This is where you give the player the positive, negative and
positive information in that order.
I think it is fair to say that a good coach is a technician, has an understanding of the physical
requirements, and is a tactician and most importantly a psychologist. We need to understand
what is important in each stage of development under the four headings. But I believe the
player-coach relationship is key to producing successful athletes, I believe the coach should
start as a teacher and develop into a friend. I have tried to outline some key points that
influence this. In all this planning is key and I leave you with this quote
“If you plan long-term,development will go fast, if you plan short-term, development will take a long-time”