First let’s set the scene for you as a coach, to give you a better idea of this situation we are talking about.
“A parent comes to you with her son and wants you to coach him, the kid is already ranked high in his section, but they want you to help him make that rise up in the ranking.”
So, what do you do?
I would follow these coaching rules.
A) Find out how hungry he is.
Tennis coaches should always first find out why they are playing tennis and then get a sense for how hungry they are for success.
You have to start here, because all success is going to come through their self-motivation and desire to be great, there are many great coaches who fail to help their players become Champions, but is that really the case?
What they failed to do is,“Measure the player’s desire and heart.”
A smart coach can size up any young tennis player in minutes and they will then decide on whether or not to work with that player.
B) If you do decide to work with them, start working on their mental game immediately.
Their success, is going to depend upon how strong their mental game is on any giving day.
They already know how to play the game, so focus on daily mental training.
Use practice as a time, to prepare them for the mental battles, that they are going to face in matches.
This means you have to know how to coach the mental game.
Study books on the subject and other great coaches and then adopt and adapt their coaching philosophies, to fit into your own unique style.
I am a mental coach myself and I started about 10 years ago and have never look back.
C) Have Faith In them
This is the part of coaching and support that many coaches don’t ever get in their career.
What I’m I talking about here?
“Tennis coaches must show their players that they have faith in them, until their players can develop their own faith.”
One of the great arts of coaching tennis, is to be able to master these skills and then be able to implement them into your program
I have studied the mental game for years and this is the one master coaching key, that I have discovered and that I try to share with as many other coaches as I can.
Now, combine all of those 3 coaching tips,while coaching your top ranked players and you will be developing some true Champions.
Which is what coaching is all about.
Keep working on these tips too, until you master them.
Good luck in your career!
So, good luck!