Keep Working on your Game

By Edgar Giffenig TennisGate

I always find it strange when high performance coaches stop working on their game.  It just does not make sense unless they are physically unable to do it.  If you are trying to teach a skill, you should be able to perform it to the best of your ability and continually strive to get better.  Coaches who neglect this area are making a big mistake.

Continually striving to improve as a player will make you a much better coach. You are a role model so being in shape and displaying good racquet skills will definitely improve your credibility and self-confidence. As a high performance coach, it is also very useful to be able to work out with your players.  The better player you are, the longer you will be able to keep up with them.

But most importantly, your own struggles with the game will help you to empathize with your players and to teach them from experience.  It is easier to succeed as a coach if you have lived through the developmental process; if you understand the frustrations of losing matches that you should have won, or the frustration of failing to improve as fast as you would have like to, or the anxiety of competition and the pain of conditioning.

The more you work on your own game, the better you will understand the game of tennis, and this experience will be invaluable to your students.

Keep hitting and keep learning!