New York Tennis Coaches Experience

I was lucky enough to be part of a small party of Australian coaches that made the trip to New York to be a part of the United States Tennis Coaches Conference, that also formed part of the US Open.

The two week experience was a great opportunity to view what was going on in the United States particularly in the 10 and under space (Hot Shots) and High Performance.

I had the opportunity to view highly successful Tennis Academies in New York, such as Chelsea Piers, Vanderbilt Tennis Academy (in Grand Central Station/Terminal), Niagara Sports Academy, and John McEnroe Academy. I felt it was important to go out and view some facilities to see how they implement programs and share ideas.

I think the thing i took most away from the trips to the different tennis academies is in comparing the Hot Shots program we run, versus the 10 and under program in the US, we are much further ahead. But in saying that its not a position I take lightly, and I was keen to talk with some of the other Aussie coaches that travelled to other academies and country clubs, the consensus was we felt that was the biggest surprise.

However we also were invited to see what they regard the BEST 10 and Under program in the US, and they were not kidding! The program was great! the standard of the kids were amazing, and the head coach was keen to talk with us about his program and how it started to where it is now. I think the best piece of information he gave us is that he reminded us to educate parents but also our coaches that Hot Shots shouldn’t be a race to yellow (meaning to use the yellow ball). That as long as we have structure, and we maintain that structure and competencies in our Red, Orange and Green levels we will continue to produce high level players.

The conference began, and it was amazing to have a full plexipave tennis court constructed in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, plus in a smaller ballroom an orange court. There were some really fantastic presenters, that gave us some great ideas to bring back to our programs here, and one extremely innovative piece of equipment that we hope to explore options in the next few months.

I really learnt a lot about implementing different components into our programs, and some great ideas on how to improve our program. I have always been with the belief that our program will continue to evolve as new ideas and new programs are developed. Its as much about us learning new skills as coaches and relaying those skills to our students.

Overall the trip was rewarding! We have formulated some new working relationships with coaches overseas, and you will see some changes in Term 4 to our programs, and it will be great to see how that goes. I am excited about the changes, I think it will continue to position our program as one of the leaders in Victoria.

Danielle