"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been."
— Henry Kissinger
"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand."
— General Colin Powell
Planning is crucial in everything. When it comes to developing a player or group of players planning is the most important action a coach will perform. Knowing what type of players the coach has will make the difference in the plan, the direction the coach will take them and what kind of results will be achieved. Let's break down they types of audiences and the three areas where planning will make a difference.
Type of Players
Players can be categorized in many levels. I like to break players down to very specific categories as this will give us the best results possible. The major catergories you will find are Juniors and Adults with subcategories being broken down as such:
Juniors
Beginners
Recreational
Competitive
Adults
Beginners
Advanced
Competitive
Keep in mind that you can be even more exact according to goals, training ability, specific age, etc. For this article, I will focus on juniors with a mention on adults as I can write on this topic alone extensively. Remember that the more specific you break down your categories, the more your program will produce a better outcome.
Here is the break down...
Juniors
These are players under the age of 18.
Beginners
These type of players are just learning the game. A coach should understand that the planning here has to be FUN, FUN and more FUN! Now, fun doesn't mean stand in a line, hit one or two balls, go to the back of the next line, and wait. That's not fun for anyone! Fun at this stage is for kids to hit the balls back and forth, to engage with each other, and to always be active. Planning for specific practices is the most difficult here as a coach has to make sure each player is engaged and doing something that will match the little skill set they have. Because players do not have a large repertoire of skills, a coach cannot count on them to perform certain things that more experienced players can do. This calls for the coach to plan everything not excluding warm ups, rotations, and water breaks.
Remember, that you directing these players in the direction of tennis overall. You are trying to keep them hooked to the sport in order for them to reach the goal of advancing to the next stages, Recreational or Competitive. I like to use this video for 10 & Under tennis as it depicts what the game is all about. Get them started, get them hooked and see where the game might take them. You can see that a lot of these guys are pure beginners, but there are a lot of kids here who are competitive. Start them the right way and they can go in any direction as long as it is a TENNIS DIRECTION!
For Example...
I was just working with a group of three boys ages 7, 6, and 5 respectively. They had zero tennis experienced, but I had them playing right away. How you ask? Started with the basics. They learned the parameters of the court by playing the line game (coach calls out the lines and they run and stand on them). This gave me the ability to place them in certain locations in order to give them the best position possible to succeed in our games. I placed one boy on the doubles sideline and another on the singles sideline. From here, I had them put the ball on the ground and hit it back and forth to each other. The ball was not hit over the net as their skill set is not there yet, but rather the boys hit the ball back and forth keeping it on the ground. I placed the other boy on the doubles sideline and I took the open spot on the singles line. We all hit back and forth, simulating a rally and had a great time. They were all engaged, all doing a "tennis" activity in rallying, and working together. Without planning, most coaches would have set these boys on a line, feed them balls one player at a time, and watch them go through trial and error as that is a blind way to teach a player.
Recreational
These are players who have advanced past the beginners stage and are looking for more of the same, FUN! Coaches need to plan their practices understanding that these guys want to PLAY! Recreational players by definition are players who enjoy drills, but who do not engage in tournaments frequently or at all. One thing that most people need to understand is that this is PERFECTLY OK!!! Tennis is a great sport where you can do many different games within the sport. I know of people who have drilled for years, but do not play any matches/tournaments whatsoever. They are more than happy practicing as they can still be competitive in their drills by the planned games/drills that a coach has drawn out. The coach should look to plan the practice to take the player in a direction where they will improve, but with the understanding that everything is game based. The goals of the players are to learn a bit, to be active in getting exercise, and to have fun.
For example...
You have a group of six players who don't play any USTA tournaments and have aspirations of playing on the high school team. Sure they are competitive, who isn't? But these players are enjoying the game more for the social and exercise factors than for the competitive one. Planning here should focus on the players engaging in games. Keep score, introduce new techniques and tactics, but don't focus on only that. Understand the reason why these players are playing and you will keep them on the court longer. There are some players that move from this stage into the Competitive audience as they start to improve, start to enjoy the competitive nature of the game, and just like to play more, but that is not most of them. Keep that in mind as you train your Recreational group.
Competitive
Now this is the cream of the crop when it comes to most coaches. Coaches want to work with these players at all times which is great, but a diligence to this audience is often overlooked. First of all, a competitive player is one who plays tournaments throughout the year. They have short and long term goals and have made tennis their priority. Coaches planning here is extremely important and the most difficult as the coach needs a plan that focuses on the now, the past and future. The direction that a coach should be taking a player is determined by the goals that the player and coach set together when they first began working. Usually these goals are tournament wins, certain stroke or tactical development, ranking, and/or a specific spot on the team.
For example...
As a coach, you have a junior who is 12, plays 15-20 tournaments per year, and spends close to 20 hour on the court. How do you plan for him? Start with his goals. Let's say he wants to play pro tennis (long term) and wants to have a big weapon as a forehand (short term/long term). The coach should plan his practices according to these specific goals. Build upon the past practices to solidify the player's game, but also spend some time EVERY practice on his forehand as that was one of the set goals. Planning has to construct from the past practices and must be dynamic as the player development rate will change constantly. A periodization development plan is vital to this type of player. Attention to every detail is a must. For coaches, Competitive players provide the most amount of work not on court, but rather off-court as it is now the coach who is managing a career.
Adults
This audience is a different type of animal, but will carry concepts that are close to juniors. When it comes to the Beginners and Advanced stages, coaches should plan very similarly as they do with their Beginner and Recreational juniors. Remember that adults now play to have more of a social interaction and to have fun instead of that competitive greatness that many competitive juniors seek. Plan your practices according to the social aspect and you will find great results.
Competitive
This audience is one of the trickiest as they play tournaments, leagues or with their friends, but at this stage in their tennis and life, most players play because of the social aspect of the game.
***Most players in this stage do NOT play for simply the competitive nature of the sport.
If we were to compare these players to the junior type they would fall in the grey area between Recreational and Competitive. Make sure your planning takes into account these aspects. Make games competitive, but do many team games, play points where you keep in mind the social aspect of the game.
Planning is extremely overlooked when it comes to the audience at hand. Know the type of players you are working with and you will be able to develop an appropriate plan for them. If you execute on these aspect, you will find your players happier on and off-court as you are meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations; now that's a winning Plan!
"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand."
— General Colin Powell
Planning is crucial in everything. When it comes to developing a player or group of players planning is the most important action a coach will perform. Knowing what type of players the coach has will make the difference in the plan, the direction the coach will take them and what kind of results will be achieved. Let's break down they types of audiences and the three areas where planning will make a difference.
Type of Players
Players can be categorized in many levels. I like to break players down to very specific categories as this will give us the best results possible. The major catergories you will find are Juniors and Adults with subcategories being broken down as such:
Juniors
Beginners
Recreational
Competitive
Adults
Beginners
Advanced
Competitive
Keep in mind that you can be even more exact according to goals, training ability, specific age, etc. For this article, I will focus on juniors with a mention on adults as I can write on this topic alone extensively. Remember that the more specific you break down your categories, the more your program will produce a better outcome.
Here is the break down...
Juniors
These are players under the age of 18.
Beginners
These type of players are just learning the game. A coach should understand that the planning here has to be FUN, FUN and more FUN! Now, fun doesn't mean stand in a line, hit one or two balls, go to the back of the next line, and wait. That's not fun for anyone! Fun at this stage is for kids to hit the balls back and forth, to engage with each other, and to always be active. Planning for specific practices is the most difficult here as a coach has to make sure each player is engaged and doing something that will match the little skill set they have. Because players do not have a large repertoire of skills, a coach cannot count on them to perform certain things that more experienced players can do. This calls for the coach to plan everything not excluding warm ups, rotations, and water breaks.
Remember, that you directing these players in the direction of tennis overall. You are trying to keep them hooked to the sport in order for them to reach the goal of advancing to the next stages, Recreational or Competitive. I like to use this video for 10 & Under tennis as it depicts what the game is all about. Get them started, get them hooked and see where the game might take them. You can see that a lot of these guys are pure beginners, but there are a lot of kids here who are competitive. Start them the right way and they can go in any direction as long as it is a TENNIS DIRECTION!
For Example...
I was just working with a group of three boys ages 7, 6, and 5 respectively. They had zero tennis experienced, but I had them playing right away. How you ask? Started with the basics. They learned the parameters of the court by playing the line game (coach calls out the lines and they run and stand on them). This gave me the ability to place them in certain locations in order to give them the best position possible to succeed in our games. I placed one boy on the doubles sideline and another on the singles sideline. From here, I had them put the ball on the ground and hit it back and forth to each other. The ball was not hit over the net as their skill set is not there yet, but rather the boys hit the ball back and forth keeping it on the ground. I placed the other boy on the doubles sideline and I took the open spot on the singles line. We all hit back and forth, simulating a rally and had a great time. They were all engaged, all doing a "tennis" activity in rallying, and working together. Without planning, most coaches would have set these boys on a line, feed them balls one player at a time, and watch them go through trial and error as that is a blind way to teach a player.
Recreational
These are players who have advanced past the beginners stage and are looking for more of the same, FUN! Coaches need to plan their practices understanding that these guys want to PLAY! Recreational players by definition are players who enjoy drills, but who do not engage in tournaments frequently or at all. One thing that most people need to understand is that this is PERFECTLY OK!!! Tennis is a great sport where you can do many different games within the sport. I know of people who have drilled for years, but do not play any matches/tournaments whatsoever. They are more than happy practicing as they can still be competitive in their drills by the planned games/drills that a coach has drawn out. The coach should look to plan the practice to take the player in a direction where they will improve, but with the understanding that everything is game based. The goals of the players are to learn a bit, to be active in getting exercise, and to have fun.
For example...
You have a group of six players who don't play any USTA tournaments and have aspirations of playing on the high school team. Sure they are competitive, who isn't? But these players are enjoying the game more for the social and exercise factors than for the competitive one. Planning here should focus on the players engaging in games. Keep score, introduce new techniques and tactics, but don't focus on only that. Understand the reason why these players are playing and you will keep them on the court longer. There are some players that move from this stage into the Competitive audience as they start to improve, start to enjoy the competitive nature of the game, and just like to play more, but that is not most of them. Keep that in mind as you train your Recreational group.
Competitive
Now this is the cream of the crop when it comes to most coaches. Coaches want to work with these players at all times which is great, but a diligence to this audience is often overlooked. First of all, a competitive player is one who plays tournaments throughout the year. They have short and long term goals and have made tennis their priority. Coaches planning here is extremely important and the most difficult as the coach needs a plan that focuses on the now, the past and future. The direction that a coach should be taking a player is determined by the goals that the player and coach set together when they first began working. Usually these goals are tournament wins, certain stroke or tactical development, ranking, and/or a specific spot on the team.
For example...
As a coach, you have a junior who is 12, plays 15-20 tournaments per year, and spends close to 20 hour on the court. How do you plan for him? Start with his goals. Let's say he wants to play pro tennis (long term) and wants to have a big weapon as a forehand (short term/long term). The coach should plan his practices according to these specific goals. Build upon the past practices to solidify the player's game, but also spend some time EVERY practice on his forehand as that was one of the set goals. Planning has to construct from the past practices and must be dynamic as the player development rate will change constantly. A periodization development plan is vital to this type of player. Attention to every detail is a must. For coaches, Competitive players provide the most amount of work not on court, but rather off-court as it is now the coach who is managing a career.
Adults
This audience is a different type of animal, but will carry concepts that are close to juniors. When it comes to the Beginners and Advanced stages, coaches should plan very similarly as they do with their Beginner and Recreational juniors. Remember that adults now play to have more of a social interaction and to have fun instead of that competitive greatness that many competitive juniors seek. Plan your practices according to the social aspect and you will find great results.
Competitive
This audience is one of the trickiest as they play tournaments, leagues or with their friends, but at this stage in their tennis and life, most players play because of the social aspect of the game.
***Most players in this stage do NOT play for simply the competitive nature of the sport.
If we were to compare these players to the junior type they would fall in the grey area between Recreational and Competitive. Make sure your planning takes into account these aspects. Make games competitive, but do many team games, play points where you keep in mind the social aspect of the game.
Planning is extremely overlooked when it comes to the audience at hand. Know the type of players you are working with and you will be able to develop an appropriate plan for them. If you execute on these aspect, you will find your players happier on and off-court as you are meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations; now that's a winning Plan!
Players can be categorized in many levels. I like to break players down to very specific categories as this will give us the best results possible. The major catergories you will find are Juniors and Adults with subcategories being broken down as such:
Juniors
Beginners
Recreational
Competitive
Adults
Beginners
Advanced
CompetitiveKeep in mind that you can be even more exact according to goals, training ability, specific age, etc. For this article, I will focus on juniors with a mention on adults as I can write on this topic alone extensively. Remember that the more specific you break down your categories, the more your program will produce a better outcome.
Here is the break down...
Juniors
These are players under the age of 18.
Beginners
These type of players are just learning the game. A coach should understand that the planning here has to be FUN, FUN and more FUN! Now, fun doesn't mean stand in a line, hit one or two balls, go to the back of the next line, and wait. That's not fun for anyone! Fun at this stage is for kids to hit the balls back and forth, to engage with each other, and to always be active. Planning for specific practices is the most difficult here as a coach has to make sure each player is engaged and doing something that will match the little skill set they have. Because players do not have a large repertoire of skills, a coach cannot count on them to perform certain things that more experienced players can do. This calls for the coach to plan everything not excluding warm ups, rotations, and water breaks.
For Example...
I was just working with a group of three boys ages 7, 6, and 5 respectively. They had zero tennis experienced, but I had them playing right away. How you ask? Started with the basics. They learned the parameters of the court by playing the line game (coach calls out the lines and they run and stand on them). This gave me the ability to place them in certain locations in order to give them the best position possible to succeed in our games. I placed one boy on the doubles sideline and another on the singles sideline. From here, I had them put the ball on the ground and hit it back and forth to each other. The ball was not hit over the net as their skill set is not there yet, but rather the boys hit the ball back and forth keeping it on the ground. I placed the other boy on the doubles sideline and I took the open spot on the singles line. We all hit back and forth, simulating a rally and had a great time. They were all engaged, all doing a "tennis" activity in rallying, and working together. Without planning, most coaches would have set these boys on a line, feed them balls one player at a time, and watch them go through trial and error as that is a blind way to teach a player.
Recreational
These are players who have advanced past the beginners stage and are looking for more of the same, FUN! Coaches need to plan their practices understanding that these guys want to PLAY! Recreational players by definition are players who enjoy drills, but who do not engage in tournaments frequently or at all. One thing that most people need to understand is that this is PERFECTLY OK!!! Tennis is a great sport where you can do many different games within the sport. I know of people who have drilled for years, but do not play any matches/tournaments whatsoever. They are more than happy practicing as they can still be competitive in their drills by the planned games/drills that a coach has drawn out. The coach should look to plan the practice to take the player in a direction where they will improve, but with the understanding that everything is game based. The goals of the players are to learn a bit, to be active in getting exercise, and to have fun.
For example...
You have a group of six players who don't play any USTA tournaments and have aspirations of playing on the high school team. Sure they are competitive, who isn't? But these players are enjoying the game more for the social and exercise factors than for the competitive one. Planning here should focus on the players engaging in games. Keep score, introduce new techniques and tactics, but don't focus on only that. Understand the reason why these players are playing and you will keep them on the court longer. There are some players that move from this stage into the Competitive audience as they start to improve, start to enjoy the competitive nature of the game, and just like to play more, but that is not most of them. Keep that in mind as you train your Recreational group.
Competitive
Now this is the cream of the crop when it comes to most coaches. Coaches want to work with these players at all times which is great, but a diligence to this audience is often overlooked. First of all, a competitive player is one who plays tournaments throughout the year. They have short and long term goals and have made tennis their priority. Coaches planning here is extremely important and the most difficult as the coach needs a plan that focuses on the now, the past and future. The direction that a coach should be taking a player is determined by the goals that the player and coach set together when they first began working. Usually these goals are tournament wins, certain stroke or tactical development, ranking, and/or a specific spot on the team.For example...
As a coach, you have a junior who is 12, plays 15-20 tournaments per year, and spends close to 20 hour on the court. How do you plan for him? Start with his goals. Let's say he wants to play pro tennis (long term) and wants to have a big weapon as a forehand (short term/long term). The coach should plan his practices according to these specific goals. Build upon the past practices to solidify the player's game, but also spend some time EVERY practice on his forehand as that was one of the set goals. Planning has to construct from the past practices and must be dynamic as the player development rate will change constantly. A periodization development plan is vital to this type of player. Attention to every detail is a must. For coaches, Competitive players provide the most amount of work not on court, but rather off-court as it is now the coach who is managing a career.
Adults
Competitive
***Most players in this stage do NOT play for simply the competitive nature of the sport.
If we were to compare these players to the junior type they would fall in the grey area between Recreational and Competitive. Make sure your planning takes into account these aspects. Make games competitive, but do many team games, play points where you keep in mind the social aspect of the game.
Planning is extremely overlooked when it comes to the audience at hand. Know the type of players you are working with and you will be able to develop an appropriate plan for them. If you execute on these aspect, you will find your players happier on and off-court as you are meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations; now that's a winning Plan!
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