Happy Christmas to everyone! Ryan and I look at the 2026 season, and we try and make some bold predictions for who is winning the Grand Slams. We don't know who will be in form, who will get injured, but do we back some outsiders or is it going to be the same players in contention for titles in 2026 - listen and find out!
Today's Pod we discuss having 1:1 private lessons. They are possibly the best way to improve your tennis, you, a coach, and time to really have areas of your game improved no end! But what happens if you have a player who thinks they are good at something and actually, they need help in that area and does it differ from Adults to Juniors?
Social Media is really everywhere these days, and whilst when we began our journey over two decades ago social media was only really in its infancy with MySpace, Bebo to name a couple. But how important is it to use social media within tennis? Can we promote / sell in the right way to show what we do and entice new players to the programme. We discuss!
A big topic is the battle of winter in the UK, especially being an outdoor tennis coach. It isn't easy stepping on in the winter months knowing rain is on the way, there is a massive wind chill, and players may want to stop due to the weather, so how do we remain positive and keep going year on year during this tougher period when work may not be as certain? We discuss!
Lots of the freelance tennis coaches begin at one tennis venue and remain there growing what they have, but should you branch out and look at getting other venues / facilities and growing your business? Or do you begin to dilute what you have built already? We discuss the pro's and con's to expanding in the tennis coaching world!
Another deep dive into the world of Tennis Coaching as a business, as Ryan & Andy discuss the importance as a business to have Terms and Conditions / Policies in the tennis world. Like anywhere, we have to protect ourselves and our livelihood but what is fair to us and also the people we teach? We discuss!
Tennis seems to now be in jeopardy of being caught up by Padel, but since it's boom in the UK since Covid are we just following a trend around the world and it will in 5 years fade away or is it here to stay and take over? We discuss!
Relationships and communication in any sport are so important, but how does it affect performances and results? Does one side of the Triangle (or pyramid) need to be stronger than another? We discuss!
Lots of different coaching qualifications around the world doing great things in different ways but what if only one existed and Ryan and Andy created it? We tell you how we would go about it from how long courses should be to how you could / should be assessed and examined.
We discuss the impact of tennis coaching to everyone, whether we really are good value for money compared to other coaching industries or do we charge too much or too little?
Discussing how teams are sorted out where we work, do Team Captains have a big say in it or is it too political and committees sort it out. Never an easy thing to do to say to someone they should play for another team within the club but it's apart of evolution of people getting better and wanting more of a challenge, but finding the right challenge is key and never easy to sort!
We discuss how people in general rate themselves, do you compare against other people at your club or pro's? Is it following fundamental things such as being able to rally and serve and who is correct?
We sit down and discuss the LTA Coach Development's video trying to get more people into coaching, or are they upsetting people in other industries and portraying them in a bad light? We discuss it all!
As we both work in club environments we thought it best on episode 20 to delve into committee's and how important are they, which roles you MUST have but also which ones could you do without?
We discuss how important in this era to play for your country in the Davis Cup / Billie Jean Cup with players deciding to prioritise training blocks and competition over playing for your national team - or is there more to the story?!
A good debate on does competition keep players in sport or does it push them away? What involvement and responsibilities do the player, coach & parent have and is it possible to build resilience in players with it being okay to fail sometimes?
It's a niggly and painful injury we have all had once upon a time in our lives, but does 'Tennis Elbow' get a bad rep? Is it actually caused from tennis and is it avoidable from the start of your tennis journey? We discuss!
The US Open has now hit Quarter Final stage in the singles so time to review it so far and give our predictions for the rest of the draw. We also discuss the controversial Mixed Doubles tournament that took place and did the winners send a message to the tournament on who should have entered? Plus we discuss how our Brits faired in the tournament.
Is going for a 1 - 2 - 1 lesson better for you to improve or should you put yourself in a group environment? We explain the pro's and con's of each to help you make your own decision whilst also letting you know what we prefer teaching.
We go into the world of stringing, how important is it to regularly change your strings or should you just let them break, does weather and court surface make a difference and what are we using? Let us unpack it!