The Coaches Playbook Newsletter

Before your next doubles session, you will probably do what most committed coaches do. You will think about the players, search through a few familiar activities and try to build a session that keeps everyone involved. You may change a rotation, add a target or choose a new drill because the last session felt too repetitive. Then you will step on court and meet the same problem: the activity runs, but you are not completely convinced it is changing what the players do when a real point...

Hi Coach, You run what appears to be a successful session. The player finds their rhythm. Their shots become more consistent. The practice looks like it is working. Then the match begins, and that performance disappears. We often blame confidence, concentration or technique. But there is another possibility: Did the practice actually prepare the player to solve the problems they face in a match? Most coaches have never been given a practical way to answer that question. That is why I created...

Most coaches do not struggle because they lack doubles drills. We can find hundreds of them online: two-up and two-back, cross-court returns, volley rotations, poaching patterns, serve-plus-one combinations and endless variations involving cones, targets and queues. I spent years believing that becoming a better coach meant adding more activities to my collection. The problem arrives when we have to decide why a particular activity should be used and what it is actually teaching the players....

“Where should I stand?” It is one of the most common questions players ask in doubles, and it is very tempting to answer it by pointing to a spot on the court. Stand here when your partner serves. Move there when the return goes cross-court. Follow the ball. Protect the middle. We may even use cones to give players a clearer picture of the correct position, and for a short while the court looks organised. The problem is that a position is only correct in relation to what is happening around...

There is a moment in almost every traditional doubles session that should make us uncomfortable as coaches. Four players spend twenty minutes moving through a tidy volley drill. The ball travels exactly where everyone expects it to travel, the rotations run smoothly, and the coach can see plenty of successful repetitions. It looks productive and, from the side of the court, it certainly looks like doubles. Then the players begin a set. Suddenly, they are late to move, unsure when to cross,...

For years, I asked: "How do I teach better technique?" Now I ask a different question: "What kind of player am I trying to develop?" For an 8-year-old, my answer is simple. I want someone who: Loves playing Solves problems Competes Adapts Stays engaged Wants to come back tomorrow Because if we get those things right, tennis skills tend to follow. If we get those things wrong, it doesn't matter how technically sound they look at eight years old. 3 Ideas Enjoyment matters. Adaptability matters....

When coaches struggle with Red Stage sessions, the first thing they usually ask for is more drills. More activities.More games.More ideas. But more ideas rarely solve the real problem. The problem is often design. A poorly designed game remains a poorly designed game even if it's fun. A well-designed environment can create hundreds of learning opportunities from a single task. 3 Ideas Constraints shape behaviour. Learning emerges through interaction. Better design beats more activities. 2...

One of the most common mistakes I see is coaches trying to prepare Red Stage players for Orange Stage. Too early. Children end up playing a version of tennis they aren't ready for. The result? Less confidence.Less success.Less enjoyment. Ironically, it often slows development. The best Red Stage programmes don't rush players. They help them become brilliant Red Stage players first. 3 Ideas Development isn't about acceleration.It's about preparation. Success builds confidence.Confidence builds...

A few years ago, I watched two Red Stage sessions taking place side by side. One looked organised. Children stood in lines.The coach fed balls.Everyone behaved. The other looked chaotic. Children were moving.Making decisions.Playing games.Solving problems. Guess which session looked better to parents? The first one. Guess which session was probably developing better tennis players? The second. The challenge with Red Stage is that coaches often fall into one of two traps: Too much structure....