What your child should learn from an Olympic Tennis Champion!
Andy Murray shouts, he cries, he may seem moody, some love him and some are just not fans. He does not fly, shoot webs from his wrists or save the world, but he is the greatest British Tennis Player ever. He is a pretty normal guy who gets frustrated sometimes, doesn’t court the camera but hits
IGNITING THE FLAME
The fascinating book “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle raises the issue of “ignition” as a key part of the development of elite performers. One of our key jobs as tennis coaches is too spark a flame of passion for the sport in our students. Whether we are aiming to develop pro players or building a program
Surviving the Disengaged
One of my coaching leaders sent me a dejected email yesterday. “Monday and Tuesday were pretty tough days given the lack of response from a lot of my kids.” Andrew is an intense coach, committed to learning and giving his absolute best on the court. He is constantly searching for ways to be a better coach with players
Maximising Engagement
Some thoughts on Gamifying Your Lessons Kids can focus on iPad and video games endlessly (take my word for it!). If only we could get our kids to focus that hard, and learn this fast on the tennis court (or classroom or anywhere for that matter.) Using some of the principles of Gamification we can achieve a
The Imitation Game – Watch what you do and say
My 5 year old son has reached a deep and wonderful obsession with tennis this UK summer. Fuelled by the blanket coverage of Wimbledon he is enthralled by an environment where interest in tennis is at an all-time high. He will watch 2 points (3 at most) and then bound out into the garden to commence play.
“Tennis is like my Church Mum”
Maddie is an 8 year old member of our program. She has been having some problems, her health wasn't great, she was being bullied at school and had to see a child psychiatrist to deal with all these problems. She decided to pull out of tennis as she was falling behind her friends skills and she was
Getting it wrong…
Tears streamed down Christopher’s face, ‘Mum I didn’t win a trophy!” he managed to explain. Earlier that day a mother had demanded to see the coaches score sheet – she had been keeping score and was adamant her 8 year old child and his partner should have won the runners up TROPHY!!! Oh dear, I had
Everyone’s a Winner!
Freddie’s mum came to pick him up after the tournament. “How did he go,” she asked. Freddie had won 1 and lost 2, one of these very narrowly and really enjoyed the event and playing with his mates and becoming a better competitor. “Does he get a trophy or something?” Urgh! This is a growing trend, everyone’s
Tomorrow never comes ….
I said .. "You can have it tomorrow!" and the reaction was not what I had expected. A few tears and a stern look. Hold on, didn't I just say "Yes"? The problem was not the yes or no but the timeframe. You see I was talking to my 6 year old daughter (some time ago!) and