Coaching Tennis Successfully

204 Pages·2004·29.995 MB·English

by  Ron Woods

COACHING
TENNIS
SUCCESSFULLY
Foreword by
Stan Smith
UNITED STATES TENNIS ASSOCIATION
i - J
ALLENCOUNTYPUBLICLI
STO
VV IL/ii.
I I I V ' * I '
COACHING
TENNIS
SUCCESSFULLY
United States Tennis Association
Ron Woods
USTA
Mike Hoctor
Astronaut High School
Rebecca Desmond
Downingtown Senior High School
Human
Kinetics
DEC 2 2000
A
Library ofCongress Cataloging in-Publication Data
United StatesTennis Association.
Coaching tennis successfully / United StatesTennis Association
;
Ron Woods, Mike Hoctor, Rebecca Desmond,
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-87322-461-2
1. Tennis-Coaching. I. Woods, Ron, 1943 Nov. 6- II. Hoctor,
Mike. III. Desmond, Rebecca. IV. Title.
GV1002.9.C63U55 1995
796.342'07'7-dc20 94-41682
CIP
ISBN: 0-87322-461-2
Copyright © 1995 by the United StatesTennis Association
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization ofthis work in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography,
photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without
thewritten permission ofthe publisher.
Developmental Editor: Jan Colarusso Seeley; Assistant Editors: Karen Grieves, Karen Bojda, Dawn
Roselund, Ann Greenseth; Copyeditor: John Wentworth; Proofreader: Jim Burns; Indexer: Barbara E.
Cohen; Typesetter: Ruby Zimmerman; Text Design and Layout: Robert M. Reuther; Cover Designer:
Keith Blomberg; Photographer (cover): Dave Black; Interior Photos: USTA/LanceJeffrey, Russ Adams
Productions, Inc., Rebecca Desmond, Scott Roman, and Scott Rowan; InteriorArt: Studio 2D, Paul To;
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10987654
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1
Contents
Foreword v
Acknowledgments vi
Introduction vii
PART COACHING FOUNDATION
I 1
Chapter Developing a Tennis Coaching Philosophy 3
1
Chapter 2 Communicating Your Approach 13
Chapter 3 Motivating Players 23
Chapter 4 Building a Tennis Program 37
PART COACHING PLANS 47
II
Chapter 5 Planning for the Season 49
Chapter 6 Planning Practices 6
PART COACHING TENNIS SKILLS AND STRATEGY 73
III
Chapter 7 Stroke Production 75
Chapter 8 Singles Strategy 109
Chapter 9 Doubles Strategy 125
PART IV COACHING MATCHES 137
Chapter 10 Preparing for Matches 139
Chapter 11 Handling Match Play 147
PART V COACHING EVALUATION 159
Chapter 12 Evaluating Your Players' Performance 161
Chapter 13 Evaluating Your Program 171
Appendix A Off-Season Training forTournament Play 177
Appendix B Strength Training 180
Index 183
About the Author 188
iii

Foreword
This book, Coaching Tennis Successfully, is The many anecdotes illustrating the im-
the only book ofits kind. It is a comprehen- portant points presented in this book are
sive manual on coaching, particularly in real-life examples of both positive experi-
team situations. I have been fortunate to be encesandmistakesmadealongtheway.The
onhighschool, college,andDavisCupteams, book is written in a form that is easy to
andmycoachesknewmuchofthismaterial, understand and put into practice.
but at every level the information presented In addition, Coaching Tennis Successfully
herewouldhavehelpedtomakethesecoaches is also up-to-date in the areas of sport sci-
even more effective. The experience ofbeing ence and technique, so you can relate the
on a tennis team, especially at the junior information to today's game and to the play-
high orhigh schoollevel, is not onlytremen- ers who are excelling.
dously important in preparing a young per- I wish you the best ofluck as you develop
son to meet the challenges oftennis compe- your own coaching style. You have a crucial
tition but also the challenges oflife. role in influencing the lives of the young
I recommend this book to any coach who people with whom you work.
wants to be more effective and would like
some suggestions on developing a coaching Stan Smith
philosophy, planning for the season, work- Hall ofFame Professional Tennis Player
ingon on-court skills, andpreparingforand Associate Director,
evaluating match play. This book can be a USTA Player Development
very practical guide in helping you, as a
coach, to be the best you can be.
Acknowledgments
The organization and preparation of the Rolley, Nick Saviano, Tom Gullikson, and
material in this book could not have been Stan Smith helped by contributing their
accomplished without the professional combined coachingwisdom, which guided
expertise of USTA staff member Linda P. the sections on strategy and technique.
Jusiewicz. Paul Roetert and Lew Brewer The USTA proudly acknowledges the con-
also freely shared their expertise in sport tributions ofeach ofthese members ofour
science and coachingmethodology. Lynne professional stafffor player development.
vi
—
Introduction
The United States Tennis Association owns nized, efficient way. Instruction from this
andoperatestheU.S. OpenChampionships, sectionwill saveyoutime and effortthatcan
whichhelps provide revenueto promote and be better spent doingwhatyou really love
develop the sport oftennis. Among our over working with young people.
500,000 members are a significant number The nuts and bolts of on-court coaching
of high school coaches, players on school are presented in the third section. Teaching
teams, and parents of those players. This tennis skills and strategies are blended to-
book is designed to help all involved in com- gethersothatplayerscanlearnmorequickly
petitive school tennis enjoy the experience and use what they learn in match play.
and to help all players become the best they Concepts are accentedbypractical on-court
can be. drills explained and displayed in diagram
The material presented here reflects the form.
cutting edge oftennis coachingtodaybyour Preparing players for competitive match
USTA national coaching staffas well as our play is covered in Part IV, including tips on
sportsciencestaffofexperts.Wehaveblended scouting opponents and conducting
the ideas with the practical experiences of prematchpractices. The coach's role during
highly successful coaches who, over many matches is discussed along with important
years, have produced championship high advice for helping players dealwith awin or
school tennis teams forboth boys and girls. a loss after a match.
—
Ifyoucoachatennisteam beitanOlympic, The concluding section deals with the
college, or high school team or kids' junior coach's role in the evaluation ofplayers and
teamtennis—you'llfindmuchhelpfuladvice theprogram. Theorderlyapproachincludes
within these pages. askingtherightquestions; assessingneeded
Thefirstpartofthebooksetsthestageand improvements in personnel, facilities, or
lays the foundation for your coaching style equipment; and building a plan for future
and philosophy, offers advice on critical in- success.
terpersonalcommunicationskills, andtack- Allofuswhohave contributedtothisbook
les the difficult issues of motivating your recognize the thousands of dedicated ten-
playerswhile developingtheirmentaltough- nis coaches, like you, across our land who
ness. These are the fundamental principles are devoted to helping young people enjoy
—
in coaching young people that truly define Tennis The Sport for a Lifetime. We hope
success over the long term. our suggestions help you just as we have
Part II deals with planning for both the learned from our coaches and, especially,
overall season and each practice in an orga- our players.
vii