024 - The Amtrak Train Coach

Today’s quick tip is:  Having Your own coaching style and philosophy is definitely good, but don’t be afraid to veer off tack a bit if need be.

Remember the definition of a coach, getting a player from one place to another. 

So the first is the Amtrak Train. 

This coach wants to take you to your destiny on one track, one way, no exceptions, no veering off track.

First let’s look at this coach in a negative way   My Way Is THE BEST WAY

This is the person who hangs around the tournaments and matches waiting to take advantage of a vulnerable player and parent.

He is trying to sell the ticket through marketing of him/her self

As the player is playing, this person is telling the parent how his/her way can change their child’s game around and what they are doing now does not make sense.

They usually promise they can take the player to a specific destination in a very short amount of time.

Another example: 

On court, this pro has specific patterns that MUST be followed to a “T” and the students are not allowed to veer off track at all and in matches, the tactics MUST be followed based on the ball the player is receiving.

This coach has specific “Patterns” of play that, usually based on percentage tennis, so if allowed, you better have a good reason for breaking the pattern when the point is over.

And saying , “well I won the point didn’t I?” usually is not going to be the answer……..

This coach will usually back-up their style with all of the players that they have coached who were successful, forgetting about all of the other ones who were not.

Is this really bad though?

But what good can come out of coaching this way? 

Well, it forces the students to focus on one thing.  And focusing on one thing clears out all of the surrounding static that can prevent a player from improving.

In sport we call this deliberate practice or practicing with a purpose.

In a ball machine example I give a lot, I let players know that repetition is important, but the root word of repetition is “REPEAT” which doesn’t mean hitting a ton of balls, but hitting a ton of balls the SAME WAY.

This may help produce what they used to say in the past, but they don’t anymore, “Muscle memory”

Daniel Coyle, in his book the Talent Code says that there is a direct relation to the amount of deliberate practice and the MYELIN that is created though repeating things over and over the same way.

A train might travel slower than a car, but it cuts thought the forest, mountains, even under bodies of water, to get to the destination quicker.

But, If you are a cookie-cutter coach and only have one way, that will help only specific players. For example, when my son was young, I thought he was going to be real slow. 

So I made sure he stood in close and played inside the baseline so he would learn how to hit everything off the rise so he would not have to run so far.

The other advantage was that he liked to volley, so doing this would get him to where he liked to play from anyway, the net, and it took time away from his opponent which is a major way to create unforced errors out of them, but we will get into this in a later episode or video.

Lucky for me, he had Fast twitch muscle but do you see how the make up of the player may cause you to use different swing patterns. 

For example if he had to stay close to the baseline, his stroke pattern may have to change.

He has less time to prepare to hit the ball, so a cookie-cutter longer and bigger backswing, like Del Potro  may not be very helpful because he will have less time.

Sure, it may get bigger after time because he is more comfortable, but you’ve got to think in terms of success based on player styles and what they do and were born with naturally.

Think about it, if you could work with what a player does naturally and sneak in all of those common denominators within their style, how that might make the LEARNING easier

This gets tricky, because as a coach, you have to decide what works and what may not.

In the last episode, John Wooden even said to his players, I am going to treat each one of you differently. 

He said this because he knew they all learned differently and the focus to bring out the best in each player would probably have to be different.

But couldn’t this be said for the technical/tactical aspects of tennis too, based on the players natural style?

So going back to the Amtrak Train

this coach may have a list of players who were successful, but could it have been bigger if he/she coached based on the players abilities and the style that fits them best?

Sounds like a lot of work, but what do you think?

Bottom Line: Having a solid teaching philosophy is a sign of a good coach and a lot of positives come out of sticking to the plan, but don’t be afraid to make a few adjustments along the way.

Good Luck,

Coach Mick, USPTA