USPTA Exam
The answers for the written test are almost all in the book, so read it thoroughly and write down notes when you come across things you don’t know. If you’re a “real” player, most of it should be familiar, except for maybe the business terms and some history of the game. Be sure you know the differences between the classical and the modern game, as well as 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages for every grip, their names and associated bevel numbers (index knuckles and palm heels).
For stroke analysis (on DVD), take a quick scan over every part of the player’s body. You’ll get like 3 chances to watch a stroke and then 3 chances to watch the modified stroke. You’ll need to identify the primary difference, and explain it.
The private and group lessons are 25 minutes, so there’s no time to waste, since you’ll be downgraded if you don’t cover EVERY base, from the initial introductions and warm-up, all the way through the lesson to picking up the balls, reviewing the lesson and assigning on and off-court homework. Practice giving lessons to strangers if you can, get used to calling them by name often and grade yourself using the lesson exam pages in the book. Writing out a generic lesson plan may help. Basically, the goal is to identify the primary flaw, describe and demonstrate the correction and use a progression to fix it. If you’re a “real” teacher, you shouldn’t have a problem helping the student(s) assigned to you.
For stroke reproduction, practice accuracy and steadiness. Being pretty and/or powerful alone won’t cut it. Throughout the exam, you don’t have to be great at anything, but you need to be consistently good at everything.
MG