A Big Decision: Selecting Your Child’s First Tennis Coach The importance of consistency through the developmental years By Adam Borr & Conrad Singh
or many parents today, selecting the right coach is a huge and crucial decision with numerous considerations. The real key component to ask is regarding the amount of ‘care’ that the coach offers your child. Care encompasses so many key factors such as creating a dynamic environment, technical knowledge, communicational skills and, of course, taking the time to develop a strong relationship. These qualities are of the utmost importance. Many of the strongest players today are fortunate to have made the right choices and found a very good coach in the early development stages. We know that the trajectory of a player is often hindered or enhanced by the quality of the first coach, which is another reason this decision is so critical. It is then no secret why many of the strongest players at local tournaments have a parent as a coach or at least as a support to the coach. Time spent on court with your coach is often difficult to find but is golden for the player. Parents who have the ability and time are able to develop terrific bonds and communication with their children whilst at the same time implementing years of understanding in the home environment into use. They often understand best how their
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child learns and can fast-track this learning by teaming up with the coach. If you have the good fortune of knowing the sport as a parent, you can do so much that a coach often is unable to. However the issue arises then when a parent does not have this knowledge and experience or formal training. The steps to developing a player are complicated and as with most top chefs—timing and quantity of the ingredients is more important to the end goal than the content itself. In this case it is important to find a coach that is prepared to work with the parent and the player, creating that all essential triangle of success. When you ask a player at the end of their days on court, many will recall clearly the first days with their coach who helped to develop and harness their passion for the game. The hours spent perfecting a child’s game is precious and many of the reasons why they continue to pursue the sport is because of those initial experiences. This means that kids whose parents also coach them are very fortunate as they often have endless resources and access to their tennis encyclopedia whenever they wanted. Kids who are passionate about the game often want to constantly work at it and even at 10-years-old are aware that a parent
New York Tennis Magazine • January/February 2021 • NYTennisMag.com
as coach who can assist is a huge advantage. Another major factor which drives players is the ability to play tennis constantly without time restrictions— which is a reason why finding a tennis club to become a member of will certainly always guide raw talent in the right pathway. Other key considerations are that a development philosophy must include private instruction and practice opportunities with players of likeminded interest at clinics and competitions at the earliest stages to drive the need for continuous learning. Parents often play a critical role in the practice and competitive piece of their child’s tennis, as time spent with their child ultimately cements the bond and experiences. Just look at some of the best players in the world and of all-time such as Coco Gauff, Martina Hingis, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Rafael Nadal and the list goes on and on. The evidence shows that these players had advantage over their opponents because of their close relationship with their coaches and parents. Of course, not every parent has the time or knowledge to dedicate this type of attention to their child’s tennis
