The Coaches Playbook Newsletter

COACHES, PLAYERS AND PARENTS! Sorry I missed my first serve! The previius email didnt include a working link.....lets try and hit a better second serve. My chat with Jeff Webb is now on YouTube! - it was too good to keep away the public. We explore the growing tension between traditional coaching methods and ecological approaches to skill development. We discuss: • Why demonstrations and technical models often fail players • The problem with isolated drills and biomechanics-led coaching • Why...

Most coaches I work with feel this tension. They know things need to change. But under pressure… they go back. Back to feeding.Back to telling.Back to control. That’s not failure. That’s identity. 3 Coaching Ideas Old habits aren’t technical — they’re emotionalControl feels safe. Letting go doesn’t. You don’t revert because you’re wrongYou revert because it’s familiar. Change happens when identity feels stable, not when ideas are newYou need support, not just information. 2 Insights “Under...

I used to think my sessions weren’t working because of the drills. Wrong drill.Wrong structure.Wrong progression. So I kept changing them. But nothing really changed. Then something uncomfortable clicked. It wasn’t the drill.It was me. 3 Coaching Ideas The coach is the most powerful constraint in the environmentYour beliefs shape every decision before the session even starts. Players adapt to you before they adapt to the taskYour language, tone, and interventions guide attention. Most...

Adaptability isn’t just a player outcome. It’s a coaching identity. It shows up in: how willing we are to experiment how we respond when sessions feel messy how comfortable we are not having all the answers That’s hard to do alone. 3 Coaching Ideas Adaptability requires psychological safetyPlayers — and coaches — take risks when failure isn’t punished. Good environments make reflection unavoidableThey surface questions instead of hiding them. Belonging sustains changeMost coaches don’t stop...

One thing became clear as I shifted my coaching: Understanding adaptability intellectually wasn’t enough. I needed: space to try ideas permission to get it wrong conversations with other coaches time to reflect That’s why the My Tennis Coach Academy exists. 3 Coaching Ideas Adaptability improves through application, not explanationYou only learn to design better environments by designing them. Reflection accelerates learningEspecially when it’s shared, not private. Coaches adapt best in...

Most coaches agree variability matters. Where things break down is how it’s used. I’ve seen variability added as: more feeds more movement more options And learning still stalls. The issue isn’t variability. It’s what is being varied. 3 Coaching Ideas Changing everything teaches nothingPlayers need stability in intention, not constant novelty. Variability should amplify informationSpace, time, pressure, and opponent cues matter more than technique changes. Good variability feels uncomfortable...

For a long time, I thought adaptability was something players had. Some were “naturals.”Some weren’t. That belief quietly shaped how I coached. Now I see it differently. Adaptability isn’t inside the player.It emerges from the environment they train in. 3 Coaching Ideas Adaptability is shaped, not taughtPlayers don’t learn to adapt from instructions — they adapt when the task demands it. Stable drills create stable behavioursIf nothing changes, neither does the player. Variability only helps...

Over the past few months, I’ve had more and more coaches asking the same thing: “How do I actually apply this in my sessions?” Not more ideas. Not more drills. But how to take what they’re learning… and turn it into something that actually works on court. Because that’s the hard part. Designing sessions that: – keep players engaged – actually look like the game – transfer to matches – and still make sense to parents and clubs That’s where most coaches get stuck. So I’ve quietly opened...

By now, one thing should be clear: Practice design isn’t a tool you pick up.It’s a way of seeing. Once that changes, everything else follows. 3 Coaching Ideas Great coaching isn’t about better answersIt’s about designing better questions for players. Design reveals your coaching valuesWhat you prioritise shows up in the environment. The goal isn’t perfect practiceIt’s adaptable players. 2 Insights from Others “We shape behaviour by shaping environments.”— Ecological psychology principle...