Individuals, fun and empathy.
Thinking of a child who is maybe taking their first steps into the sport – they probably want to try it, to see if it is fun.
But what is going to make it fun for that individual? Positive praise, being listened to, achieving success, running around, playing a match, being with friends, learning a skill, experimenting, praise from their peers? What are their motivations, their personality and how do they learn best?
To have any chance of delivering on an individual’s motivations and ambitions for playing tennis, their coach has to be empathetic first and foremost. Only, and I mean only, by putting the individual first can the coach ever hope to enable the child (or adult) achieve their goals.
Empathy is the No.1 thing you should look for in a teacher or coach.
With empathy, you will get the best performance, attitude and engagement from everyone. Our tennis coaches are passionate about helping individuals be the best version of themselves they can be – on a tennis court. And this therefore goes beyond just improving their tennis skill (see my upcoming blogs on empowerment, mental wellbeing or community and social skills to name a few). An empathetic coach will understand you, the individual, and therefore enable you to achieve your ambitions.
By understanding and listening, we as coaches are able to create the best environment for everyone to perform. For everyone to enjoy themselves and for everyone to achieve the successes they are looking for. This means we must truly listen to each individual and understand them, their motivations and desires.
At ICPT we treat every child, parent, adult or grandparent as an individual.
We listen to each individual.
I’m listening.
Work hard, play fair, have fun 🙂
