Coaches & Players that don't watch tennis, might as well be coaching & learning blind

The Coach
Would you ever get in a cab and have a blind person drive you? Then why would you allow a tennis instructor who doesn't watch much tennis teach you the game? Any coach that is not a habitual tennis enthusiast, who does not make it a point to watch as much tennis as possible, is no better than a blind man leading the blind. New techniques, tactics, and other improvements in the game occur on the professional court all the time. A good coach is one that is able to pick these up and apply them to their students.

The Player
As coaches we should be recommending that our players watch as much tennis as possible. Take a look at the pics above and you'll see some of the best players in the world as kids.  When they are interviewed today and speak of their past they can all say how they remember watching their favorite players on tv or and in live action.  They watched tennis!  I make sure that our players know what professional tournaments are going on during the year and how the players are doing during the competition.  This alone makes my job as a coach a lot easier as it develops more interest than I could ever on the court.



Get your players watching!
Our players often participate in picking draws which gives them an incentive to watch more tennis as they have an investment into it. A great place to do this is www.ATPworldtour.com where players can actually make their picks on Master 1000 tournaments, track them, and compete against thousands of people around the world.  This is a great way to keep kids engaged in tennis as they now have to watch.  

  The complaint I hear all the times is "well, I don't have the tennis channel".  If your coach doesn't have the tennis channel RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!  The tennis channel carries most 250, 500, 750 and Master tournaments along with Majors.  This is a great source for thousands of matches that players and coaches can be analyzing and enjoying.  Coaches are able to see how the best players in the world are adapting to various surfaces, conditions, opponents, etc and can correlate how they will instruct their students on what top players are doing.

Players who watch tennis are able to pick things up and emulate them on the court.  As a coach, this is huge as players can come with new, positive things that I can then readjust, if needed, according to their biological/chronological age, along with their game style.  Of course, if a player comes in doing things that they are not seeing correctly then we can talk about it, as I should know what's going on, and then direct the player in the correct manner.  A coach that doesn't know what the player saw, where it came from, and what the player is attempting to do is put in a very tough situation as he/she will now know how to relate to the player.  This will provide frustration for the student and the coach.

The best players  all watched tennis growing up.  The best  coaches all watch it now.  Make sure your coach is a student of the game and you are a fan as this will only help you develop much faster!