Bigger Better Tennis - Paul Dale

As a coach, I've always believed in allowing my students to develop their own games naturally as much as possible. I often provide the lead but later I like to see my players find solutions to their own problems. I design the lesson plan, create the most appropriate drills for the topic and provide feedback whenever necessary.  However, once all this is successfully taking place on the practice court it's often best for me to literally take a step back and allow players the freedom of self-discovery. The only time I seldom let this happen is when I'm teaching the Volley. I find that most players have a warped idea of how the Volley should work. Perhaps this is because they've watched the pros volley on TV and feel they now understand how it should be performed and can easily imitate what they saw.  If left to their own devices the vast majority of students would flounder around in lessons trying to perfect their volley game over a long period of time.  Because of the

THE NEW GENERATION The established trio of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer are under threat. A talented group of Next Generation players are breathing down their necks each week, and the Next Gen players know that the big three can be beaten.  But just who are the best Next Generation players around today?  My picks for the best of these Next Gen players, and possible future world number 1s, include Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Denis Shapavolov.  Other Next Gen players right behind them include Felix Auger-Aliasimme (20), Borna Coric (23), and Alex Rublev (23). They're all knocking at the door as well. For me, Jannik Sinner, from Italy, at 19 years old, is also highly talented and is currently the youngest player in the top 100 (ranked 78). He has the game and temperament to go to #1 and stay there. WHO CAN BE THE NEXT WORLD NUMBER 1? My answer as to who will be the next world number 1 player from our list... none of them! Well, certainly not a long-term

Before I coach any player for the first time, there are several things I want to know about them.  I'm sure, as a coach also, you have been in this situation many times yourself. For me, when a new player strolls through the gate and onto my court for the first time I immediately begin watching for signs that will help me coach them later.  The important distinction here is that I am not looking at every student as being the same. Far from it. I understand now, after coaching for many years, that every player is different. As coaches, our ability to recognise the differences in each player, and coach them as individuals based on those differences will set us apart.  Here are 6 of the qualities I want to know about a new player: 1. WHAT MOTIVATES THEM? "There is so much time and effort required to be a top player, that if you don't love what you are doing it will be almost impossible to reach the top". There is a long list of things that motivate us to do things. We su

BECOME AN OUTLIER... I'm not a big fan of attending ITF coaches workshops anymore and here's why. Much of what is presented at these Workshops is standard stuff, and listening repeatedly to similar topics and similar points of view will, unfortunately, stifle your creativity.    Here's what I would suggest. Once you have attended several Workshops already, you should take yourself out of the workshop scene and begin to integrate your new ideas and methodologies from the workshops onto the court, with the long-term goal of developing some of your own philosophies for later. It's important to understand that workshops in themselves are a tool, and that to get the full value from them, the ideas you pick-up at workshops need to be implemented and tested on-court over time.  At the beginning of my coaching career, I joined a tennis company that staffed resorts, hotels, and tennis clubs all around the world. After training with that company for a short time I was dispatche