How To Reach Your Full Potential as a Tennis Coach!

As a tennis coach.

Right now, at this very moment.

How close are you to reaching your full potential?

This is the daily Socratic question that all coaches need to be asking themselves at the end of their workdays.

The major problem that most coaches are facing is this.

They are comfortable in their positions and have been working or coaching just to get their check to make a living!

And as a result of this fact.

We have a lot of average or below-average coaching going on at every level.

Granted.

I'm talking mainly today about kids and adults here.

Because that is the market that needs more participation for us to grow the game in the future.

Wouldn't you agree?

We are all in this together with ONE main coaching goal.

To grow the game of tennis.

Even with the pandemic.

Reports show.

Tennis participation had been declining for years.

This is why more tennis coaches need to transform their careers to help them reach their full potential.

Here are a few ways for them to do that.

One.

Coach with more passion.

Coach the part, until you become the coach!

What most coaches don't understand is the law of reversibility.

Meaning.

You can act your way into a certain feeling during your lessons!

To be honest here though.

If you aren't passionate about teaching the game.

Go do something else, because life is too short.

But still.

On those days, when you may be feeling out of it, you can still coach your way into a better feeling at will, and it works every time.

Example.

How many times have you gone to an event that you didn't want to, but when you got there and started interacting with people and laughing having a good time, you got into the flow, and enjoyed yourself?

You literally acting yourself into that mood.

In my case.

I did the same thing and went all in and started to coach with passion consciously all the time until I was doing it on a subconscious level.

And that is what you should do too!

Another thing.

Passionate coaches can perform better and effortlessly communicate with their students.

Two.

Work on your communication skills.

Believe it or not.

All coaches are actually in the art of persuasion business.

We must be able to communicate with our students on their level and reach them mentally wherever they are at during the lesson through questioning and listening.

Then allowing them to figure things out.

Because.

When the student is ready, the stroke will appear!

Was talking to a psychology trainer before, and he said that only 5% of tennis coaches work on their communication skills enough!

Think about that… the one skill that plays the most important role in helping you teach more effectively in your lesson isn't being developed or worked on enough by YOU.

With that being the case.

Start reading books and improving your skills as a communicator.

It's a process that you have to go through like any skill, so work on it daily and the results will help you take your coaching game to another level in months.

Three.

Commit to getting great as a tennis coach.

This should be the end goal for every tennis coach out there teaching.

Which is why…

I wrote a book on this topic.

You can get it here.

Why?

Because who wants to be an average tennis coach?

Not me, and I know you don't either.

So, why are you out there just going through the motions on the court?

I see it here all the time, and I ask this same question to those same coaches.

And they have no answers!

But, let's get back to you.

What are you doing every day to get great at coaching?

Are you reading about great coaches from all sports?

Are you mentally modeling after them?

Are you staying congruent with their coaching philosophies, methods, and actions?

I was lucky enough to attend one of Dennis van der Meers's tennis workshops in Tokyo years ago.

Let me tell you.

It was the best coaching week I ever had, and Dennis was a great coach, who trained coaches all over the world.

Learned a lot from him, and the most important thing was this.

To reach your full potential as a coach, you must develop a coaching philosophy.

And you must be questioning it all the time, to stay updated on your coaching methods.

With that being the case.

What is your coaching philosophy right now?

Do you even have one?

How much are you updating it on a monthly basis?

Go grab a pen and notebook and start writing all this down.

Also.

Start thinking on paper to clarify your thoughts on what you learn from these books and to gain better coaching insight.

Last tip.

The best way to reach your full potential as a coach is to, coach up to your full potential daily in your lessons, no matter how you are feeling on the inside that day.

Because.

This will help you develop the right coaching habits!

Okay, got a little off-topic today.

But.

Let me know your take on this topic, and I look forward to hearing your coaching point of view!

By the way.

You can get the free e-book here.

Thomas Daniels Is a PTR/MTM tennis pro with more than 29 years of experience teaching all ages and levels the game of tennis.

He is now a tennis writer and online tennis consultant based in Osaka. To hire him for seminars, workshops, or clinics, call 0798-51-4481 or email [email protected]