Tips to Selecting the Right Tennis Instructor for Your Child
As you can imagine there are numerous considerations that you should take into account if you are trying to select a suitable tennis instructor for a child. What is suitable for an adult is not always the best match for a child and this can sometimes be a very difficult difference to distinguish. What you determine as the first criteria is obviously someone who is skilled and talented as a player themselves, yet there are other criteria that should be considered as well.
Some of this criteria should include someone who is willing to offer up generous amounts of praise to your child. While of course some criticism is necessary in order to actually improve you do not want an instructor that only criticizes your child. Look for someone who also gives honest praise. If they are simply dolling out praise just to make parents happy, you want an instructor who is handing out praise because it is deserved. This will also go to show an instructor that pays close attention to the activities and behavior of the students as well which shows that they are highly attentive to the needs of your child.
Your next criteria should be an instructor who has patience with children who struggle to grasp the concepts set forth for them. You need an instructor who is willing to work with your child whether they catch on perfectly after the first lesson or it takes then 20 lessons to learn how to swing the racquet without hitting someone. The kind of continuity that this offers your child is very important and ensures that they will be able to really grow and learn with the same instructor and it also shows that an instructor is capable of adapting their teaching style based upon your child’s particular needs.
For children one of the key things to look for is an instructor who places the highest priority on having fun. Of course producing star tennis players is great, but an instructor who is more concerned with his next Olympic entry than having fun is likely to drive away the hobby players, which is where most children fall in the spectrum of players. Once your child grows older if they want to train for the Olympics then a different coach may be necessary but young children need to first have fun and improve their skills before moving onto worrying about being the best in the world.
As a good rule of thumb, you need an instructor who places a highly emphasized level on mastering all of the basics before moving onto advanced techniques. What good does it do to sign your child up to 10 tournaments if they are unable to even properly swing the racquet? You need to ensure that the instructor is willing to spend time on the basics until they are firmly mastered. If they insist upon moving your child along without the basics fully mastered then you need to find a new coach. Your child should never be pushed to a level that is beyond their capabilities for the time being. They may suddenly have a breakthrough and rapidly advance, but the lessons need to follow their own individual skill levels.
Your final consideration should be finding an instructor that is certified. This goes to help prove that they are capable of playing themselves. It also allows you to feel comfortable knowing that they have to adhere to a specific set of rules and guidelines in order to actually be certified. Many instructors that are lesser quality will not want to bother with the requirements to be certified, so this works as a very effective method to help weed out the instructors that are not as suitable for your needs. Always ask about certification before you ask any other questions about their teaching style or even prices. Without a certification, you do not want to work with them, and you should never send your child to them.
