This is what sometimes worries me (Howard) when I see coaches working on coordination with tennis players.

I (Howard) see coaches go “Okay, I have got my session in 10 minutes”. They have a quick scroll on Instagram. Find a drill and decides it looks cool. That is then what they will do on the court.

Fine..

…but it’s not fine because when the coach applies the random drill from Instagram, he/she doesn’t really understand the context of drill. So, the coach tries the drill. It’s going well initially and then it starts breaking down for one player. He just cannot achieve it. For another player it’s far too easy and a few players where it’s just about right. The coach will have a tough time make it easier or harder if they are not understanding the main purpose of the drill.

Further it becomes difficult to give effective coaching cues to the players as different kids prefer different information. The players ask the coach “What is it you really want me to do, Coach?” and if the coach doesn’t know it will become difficult to even carry on the drill. The drill continues until it deteriorates even more, or the coach just pulls the plug. Either way, an intelligent little player is going to pick up on that. And the coach just lost a little bit of respect and buy in because it became a little bit too much of a circus trick.