I hope, in this short article, to high-light the pros and cons of a life in coaching, after or during your career in playing the great game of Tennis. It is essential, first and foremost, to be in love with the game of tennis and also to be able to inter act with people in general. Coaching is a people sport and you will be faced with many instances, where you will need to be a mentor, an advisor, a friend and above all a good communicator and teacher.
People, who come to you as a coach, will expect you to be a professional, to know all about your sport, to be able to answer the vast majority of their questions, to make their time on court with you, an enjoyment and to be able to say, that they have either learnt something from you and improved their tennis. You must be able to handle all types of prospects equally well, you will be approached by complete beginners (some of whom will never have had any sporting skills or knowledge) – people of all age groups from 4 – 84 years of age, juniors and adults – male and female, and also advanced players who also want to sort out some particular problem, or advance their tennis.
One area that you will need to address, is that tennis is a career when people will want you to coach them during the evenings and weekends, this will effectively spoil a lot of your plans for a separate social life and you will also need to coach in adverse weather conditions, unless you are fortunate enough to have indoor facilities. If you work for someone else and in particular for any of the large indoor groups, you may find that long hours are a necessity, in order to make your desired level of income, for a good life. Some of these do not pay good rates and also in many cases ask for a court fee. A lot will also depend on the area in which you are working as this affects the fees that can be obtained from the clients.
Without doubt, it is far more satisfying to start your own coaching business; to develop your own facility, to be able to put your own mark on what you wish to achieve. You will find this quite tough in the early stages, but far more satisfying in the long run, plus more lucrative and it is not so difficult to do with proper investigation. So what do we do to get started on this career of our choice – there are a number of directions to go to, in order to get your qualifications:
The P.T.R. – Professional Tennis Registry – the largest International coaches association worldwide.
The R.P.T. – Registro Profesional De Tenis -Spanish coaching method
Modern Tennis – Developed by Oscar Wegner
The National Association in your country – USTA – LTA etc.
I am a firm believer that a serious coach should look at least two different methods and perhaps more, to glean as much as possible from all system and use the methods they feel are best for their style of coaching. If you are to become a really good and a recognised coach, you will need to be able to work with all grades of players from the beginner to the performance player, and perhaps somewhere along your career path, you will find a specific niche that suites you the best. Very few coaches have the privilege of working with world class players, but you need to be able to recognise the opportunity when it is placed before you. To conclude, I have to report that it is a great life being a tennis coach, you can impinge on the lives of many people in a tennis career and you will be remembered by those whose life you have touched and benefited.
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