I watched WTT for the first time last year while in Orlando and loved it, this year I would have have attended the event in Virginia had I not been 4000 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic. I was intrigued by the format the camaraderie and the almost open access to players. It

The thing about sports is despite how fast the world spins, the fundamental driver behind sports doesn’t change! It’s about meeting fundamental human needs through play! Some people suggest that play is when you don’t have a score and so it is somehow devoid of competition but in fact many of us need the score element

Are you tracking the right numbers? We work with programs all over the world and no matter where we are there are five measures that tell us which way a program is heading! Developing a great kids tennis program is a challenge but by making sure you are tracking the right numbers and making your decisions based on

When you open your mouth on a tennis court what comes out? It has been an interesting months reviewing lessons with coaches from around the world, sometimes via video and sometimes in real time. Reflecting on what we say and how that has an impact on our player(s) has always been an interest of mine. It dates back

Ok before we start here are a few confessions. I love tennis! It has given me a life that I could not have imagined, that I am grateful everyday. Tennis people are amazing (for the most part) and as a sport it has all the things that as a third brother I love. Other sports range from..  “Wow!”

Having spent the last week up until the early hours of the morning watching the open I left the Women’s final with an unexpected message. I have always been a huge fan of the Women’s Tour. The unpredictability of matches and my British love of an underdog means it appeals much more to me that the

Being a child means that you come with a range of needs that are individual to you. Being secure means that you will be prepared to express yourself, be creative and start to connect. If you are a young girl this puts you in a male dominated world where most people are bigger than you. Now think

The words of a child are a gift and their value should not be underestimated. They help us to develop a greater understanding of who they are and what motivates them. They allow us to open the door to learning and help a child to reach their potential as a player and a person. That is

Understanding the Participation Pathway As part of the GTN Workshop we discuss the participation pathway. As we don't like to badge children at a young age it's something we are big believers in, and it's particularity relevant to girls. We don’t use terms like performance or recreational. Instead we look at their commitment and love of

There are many reasons that we started the journey that led us to creating Girls Tennis Network. Being a coach, father of a daughter, and boyfriend, I have come to realize that the only thing I am 100% sure of in this world is that in all those roles I have so much to learn. The

Hit the web and you will find a lot of articles. posts and clips about tennis, and sports, parents. Most will bemoan the involvement of parents and create lists of rules that parents should follow. The theme is usually, Parents create pressure and pressure is bad for kids, so do these these things. We would like

You know that point in an arm wrestle when two evenly matched opponents seem to always get to. The part where their arm starts to shake and you know they are in for the long haul. Loving that part is the nature of being a great competitor and if you love this part the chances are you

Running a circuit of activities can be a great way to manage groups, but get some of the key principles wrong and the circuit can become a complete disaster.   Everything twice If you have 20 players and want to do each task with two players then you might assume that you need 10 different activities but that

Communicating with and giving our tennis kids feedback on their performance is our most powerful coaching tool.  But not all communication and feedback has the effect we are hoping for. On the positive side feedback can be motivating, reinforcing or informational.  On the negative side it could create too much dependency on the coach; or confuse the

You may have times when children get over excited or misbehave this may be part of “testing the boundaries”; finding out what is acceptable and what is not. Sometimes the reason children are over excited is because of the behaviour of the coach! When we act over animated and a little crazy, this can send a

In our previous article we explored the learning concepts of: Open vs Closed Skills Light the Fire Challenge In part 2 we dive deeper into the learning techniques which are proven to make learning stick. Implicit Learning is Superior Implicit learning happens in an unconscious way, kids are not aware they are learning but the environment you have created