Understanding your athletes is one of a coach’s primary responsibilities. Knowing players’ needs, what motivates them, and what is happening in their lives is critical to your work with them. This, however, is not an easy task. You cannot read minds and you are often responsible for a large number of players. Keeping track of them is a job in itself. But this information is essential for you in order to enhance their tennis experience.
Essential Information
What information do you need to know to best serve your athletes? You need to know about their needs in training, at tournaments, as part of the team, and issues going on off the court.
- Since off-season training and preparation is typically the foundation of the tournament season, you want to understand your athletes’ motivational needs. Do they need to be pushed hard by you, encouraged and supported very positively, paired with a motivated athlete, or can they be left alone because they are self-motivated?
- An important part of leading a team or training group is maintaining harmony and reducing conflict. Knowing the interpersonal needs of your athletes will benefit them by making the team experience more positive and you by having everyone get along better. So for each athlete, you want to know how they best fit into the team. Do they like to be alone or around teammates, who are their friends on the team, and what communication problems and conflicts do they have with teammates?
- While training on-court, you want to make sure that the coaching you give each athlete is understood. So you want to ask them what their learning style is. Do they learn best with verbal, visual, or kinesthetic instruction? Do they need to be given technical cues to remind them of what they are working on?
- On the day of a match, your interaction with the athletes can significantly affect how they play. But it is not often clear what you should do with them. For example, before their match, does the athlete like to be talked to or left alone? Does he or she like to be given some technical, motivational, or performance cues? Since the pre-match period is critical to their tournament performance, this is information that is important for you to know.
- Finally, athletes are not in a vacuum while on the court. Issues that are present off the court will certainly influence their tennis. So you should make an effort to understand each athlete’s life away from the team including family and social relationships, health concerns, and school performance.
Obtaining The Information
In order to understand your athletes fully, you need clear information that you can best obtain by placing the onus on them. That is, give them the opportunity to supply you with the necessary information. You can get this useful information by having them complete a brief questionnaire, which I call the Talk to Your Coach Questionnaire, which you may then study at your leisure. It is also useful to put each athlete’s information on an index card that you may refer to when needed.
- What motivates you most in training?
- Who are your friends on the team and with whom do you get along?
- What are the most common types of conflicts that arise within the team?
- Which type of instruction do you learn from best: verbal, visual, kinesthetic, or a combination?
- What should and shouldn’t I do in the start area to help you prepare for your match (talked to or left alone, given technical cues)?
- What are some things in your life off the court that I should know to help me work with you best (e.g., family, social, school, health)?
