players who just do coaching

[wesley o brien]

Hi All

Would love to get a feedback from another coach. I have been working with an 11 yr old girl for about 4 months..off and on but mostly once a week for an hour.....although she has improved a bit and has a decent backhand she still struggles with serve and forehand. Now she ONLY does coaching and no practice outside of this one hour a week. Is she going to improve if she ONLY does one hour a week coaching and no practice outside of this ???? ....I feel the parents are getting critical a bit and I have told them she needs to practice

 

[SinjinCooper]

If she's not playing beyond coaching time, it's because she doesn't like the sport, and is being pressured to be there by her parents. Every kid I ever knew who really improved loved to play, and found excuse after excuse to get out and hit, one way or another. You couldn't drag me off the courts when I was a junior.

Of course she's not going to get better. Don't push her. She'll find her way to the courts if she ever falls in love with it.

 

[PittsburghDad]

No. No chance 1 hr a week is anything but a babysitting lark. She will improve to her baseline but she'll still be terrible.

 

[fuzz nation]

You're absolutely right - if her parents expect her to show improvement, she needs to practice. In fact, I'd say much the time you're spending with her at this rate is probably going to waste. Since she's not doing any "homework", you likely need to cover a lot of the same stuff more than once. If she also played a little bit on her own, she could digest the things you're teaching her and incorporate them into her set of developing skills and habits. In my experience, a total of an hour a week on the courts won't build much of anything.

 

[Friedman Whip]

Who does she have to hit with? Do her parents play and do they try to get the kid to hit with them?

 

[wesley o brien]

Who does she have to hit with? Do her parents play and do they try to get the kid to hit with them?

Her mum plays regularly..it's a pain bc when she's not getting consistent you question your own ability as a coach

 

[tennis_balla]

Once a week is very little tennis. She'll improve, but slowly and it'll be more frustrating for her than anything if she doesn't wanna play more.

I'd ask her what her feelings are towards tennis and that should give you all the info you need.
If her parents don't understand the process it's their loss and not yours. If you lose them because of that you'll be better off, as down the road it might get worse.
Stick to and trust your ability as a coach. Try and have a talk with the parents about how to get their daughter to improve. It has to be a two way street. If they place all responsibility on you, I'd tell them thanks but it might be best for them to find another coach.