Photo credit: Front Row Studios -2017 Australian Open Grand Slam Coaches Conference
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have superpowers? Abilities that set you above ordinary people. In tennis, we see the athleticism of players, but there are unseen abilities they have that distinguish them as successful competitors.
I call these ‘Tennis Superpowers’ and they include:
-Problem solving
-Perception & Decision-making
-Technical Adaptibility
Starting with Problem-solving, we will explore developing these skills through the lens of an Ecological Dynamics approach, which is highly effective for developing these abilities.
To develop players with these abilities requires coaches to:
- Reframe their view of tennis and the purpose of practice.
- Use different practice designs and methods to bring out these abilities, like Representative Learning Design, Constraints-led approach, and Differential Learning. These are covered in more detail in the article.
- Take on the role of an ‘Environmental Architect’ rather than a ‘teacher of tennis skills’.
Developing the superpower of problem-solving makes players not only technically sound but also tactically astute and resilient, ultimately preparing them to thrive amid the unpredictable challenges of competitive tennis. This will equip them for both the challenges of the game and the joy of lifelong learning.
For an example of what a session looks like when using this approach, click on the button below where I develop offence and defence skills with U10 Green Ball players.
(One interesting note is that this video was from several years ago, and two of the players went on to be national-level competitors, with one becoming the U12 National Champion.)
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