A Day Of Coach Training: Growing Girls Tennis

[@payamirani5298]

Very worthy initiative. Thanks for sharing your approach.

[@TheTennisMentor]

Thank you so much for your support… it’s really appreciated!🙏🙏😊

[@payamirani5298]

@The Tennis Mentor watched the video with my 10 year old niece before she headed off to her tennis class. She demanded a super thanks 😊.

[@TheTennisMentor]

@@payamirani5298 your 10 year old niece is a legend (as are you!)

[@nathanmiller6051]

Amazing! Great video! So glad you got to be involved with this 🙏 during the tennis boom years many decades ago, it wasn't cool not to play tennis! especially in the U.S how things have changed, studies have been conducted over the years and the answers are always the same, team sports are more attractive to parents and kids, everyone in the tennis community will have to keep working hard to get more people involved and grow our wonderful sport! Thanks Coach 🙏 great job

[@TheTennisMentor]

It’s the sad reality… let’s make it cool again!!💪

[@richardh1781]

Sam S's comments are spot on. It's also disappointing how TV camera coverage has not evolved much over 50 years. 90% of image is still from high up camera behind the court. They should experiment. So many other angles can give better representations of how much the ball moves... how much effort a player uses . The speed of ball and player movement. Many other sports (football) have improved their coverage. Great video ... THANKS

[@andrespamanes5659]

Thanks for the inside look at the course and the initiative. I work with some red ball groups where the majority of kids are girls, so can you share where I can find tips, drills or courses/information to help me as a coach? And will the panel, or presentations you attend will be available online somewhere? Again, thanks for all your great work as always Ashley, you don’t know how much you have helped me over the last year! 🇲🇽🎾

[@Rigo_S]

Tennis is definitely lukewarm on the cool scale. There are clear barriers to just picking it up and playing. Although I would say that there isn't a single racket sport that's cool right now. I used to play badminton before tennis and I have much love for the sport, and it also has an image problem (at least in Europe).

[@sergiosimbula]

Great content Ashley! Very important subject 🙌🏻

[@TheTennisMentor]

Thanks Sergio, I agree!

[@Javi_C]

What a great initiative! Thanks for showing us Ashley.

[@TheTennisMentor]

Thanks for watching!

[@QuackQuackBang]

6.35… is that the dude himself, Steve Bell? Great coach. Passionate about this scheme as a teacher. Tennis will always be niche but we have a strong history with it due to Wimbledon and should really promote it more. The other thing is it is always going to be cheaper and easier to give x amount of kids a football in a school than try to find space for multiple courts and rackets.

[@dabarons001]

Very cool. Love the idea of the parent/kid combo games.

[@TheTennisMentor]

Thanks, I’m looking forward to running those sessions!!

[@sardinhanabrasa]

Great initiative. Regarding your question. Yeah I think tennis is supercool but I am afraid I am a bit outside the target group of ‘teenagers’

[@btroofing6492]

Great video where can I sign my daughter up for this

[@TheTennisMentor]

Are you local to my club? (In Havant, Hampshire?)

[@btroofing6492]

@@TheTennisMentor 1.30min

[@TheTennisMentor]

@@btroofing6492 there will definitely be some good coaches near to you that will be running courses… they all start in mid April so courses will be added to the LTA website over the coming weeks. Keep an eye out and let me know if I can help with recommendations!

[@btroofing6492]

@@TheTennisMentor Is there we have been struggling to find a great coach to take our daughter to the next level. We have found over the years the Coaches lose Interest and just want the money. If you could recommend a top junior girl's tennis Coach in Hartfordshire It would be appreciated

[@TennisSmash]

Yes I think tennis is cool

[@TheTennisMentor]

😎

[@omariblackman9470]

Not Ashley with the Kevin little on the intro

[@TheTennisMentor]

😂😂🤣

[@frankr3m]

Tennis in my country (The Netherlands) is suffering along with all forms of organised sports. Teens are looking for activities that are on demand just like the content they consume. Things like set training sessions, scheduled matches and organized tournaments go against their idea of always being free and flexible and doing what they want just when they want to. In addition tennis is suffering amongst parents for not being a "teamsport". Even though most recreational tennis is played in a team format over here the impression is that of 1v1. Finally tennis just does not have a lot of highly marketable athletes that appeal to young adults. The current tennis stars do not resonate with teens, or rather any demographic to be honest. As good as someone like FAA is, he does not market very well. With all his flaws, Kyrgios does express a personality and that is something that tennis stars in general are sorely lacking. The sport is as popular as ever here being the #2 organized sport in the country but cool it is not... It is fixable however. It all depends on the marketing focus, tennis in general is focused on the spending demographic. 30+ year old adults with disposable income are great for sponsors. 14 years olds are not. The tennis associations however need to learn how to speak teen again. Focus on a push in social media. Put your national stars out there and let them be more than ball hitting machines. Organize low-barrier of entry clinics, activities and make the tennis club a nice place to hang for young adults. At a lot of times my club looks like th backyard of a retirement home, that's not inviting for a group of teens to come join in the fun.

[@nathanmiller6051]

Well said 👍

[@alastairtheduke]

Tennis IS too proper. When you watch a Nadal press conference. What's he going to say? Important match, I have to be ready because he's a strong opponent. I will do my best. This is basically what every player says. It's boring. Contrast that with the UFC a super popular sport. There's drama before and after the match. I'm not saying ATP should be UFC but Kyrgios is showing us that tennis needs drama. Kyrgios, Monfils, Bublik, even Medvedev are fun to watch.

[@TheTennisMentor]

Totally agree with you… players are not connecting with their audience either. To be fair, they have sooo many press responsibilities that they’re fed up of it. Maybe if they did less interviews they’d have more chance of being real?

[@alastairtheduke]

@@TheTennisMentor I think that's part of it, the same questions are being asked of them. I think the netflix series and social media are the way to go. Show us what these players are really like, make them more accessible and relatable. RBA is one of the best players in the world, I have no idea what his personality is like and that goes for 90% of players. I know more about the netflix special players for sure. As a result, yeah I'll be tuning into a Berettini match.

[@weyman4317]

I think tennis has problems. It needs to reach out to lower socio economic groups and it need to be cheaper. At the moment tennis is perceived as middle class and expensive. In the UK the LTA is very wealthy thanks to Wimbledon but that revenue is not getting to grass roots. We need more volunteers and coaches who are not driven by just making a living out of the sport. I think girls are happy to play tennis but don’t want too much competition- just maybe hitting for fun and fitness? Tennis can be a complicated game and perhaps too many coaches over complicate it for financial reasons?- but it needs simplifying- pickleball is gaining momentum on that reason alone.