My coaching philosophy

As I reflect on my experience in sports and especially tennis in my younger years, I have realized that it was a vital part of my character development. Tennis taught me many wonderful lessons, skills and attributes that I now use daily in my life.

Yes winning is really really fun, but it does not always mean success. Real success is developing champions for life in our world, win or lose.

My goal with athletes is to help them find a sport they love and can play well for life. My goal is to help athletes feel supported, encouraged and journey with them as they build character and resilience. My philosophy is developing champions in life through sport.

I aim to build trust, expect respectful authentic honesty with my athletes to bring out the best in them each time they play. I am to educate athletes and parents that they can be great by redefining success to not just focus on the outcome (winning/losing) but to focus on the journey and the lessons learned and improvements made along the way.

I care about athletes as a whole human being, not just the player on the court. This is why I set especially high standards about expected on court behaviour and attitudes. Learning the discipline of managing body language and responses to challenging situations are life skills.

I want athletes to experience the joy of playing tennis and have fun as they develop the balance of working really hard at the same time.

I want parents to focus on the process and experience in conversations with their athletes, rather than the end result (score). Asking questions like: What did you learn today? Did you help a teammate today? Did you figure out how to have fun and work really really hard at the same time? Was your on court self talk something you would say to someone else? (was it positive) Was your on court posture strong and confident or could someone looking from the outside guess who was winning?  How mentally tough were you? Did you try and play your best tennis each and every point? Was your intensity level consistently high?

Success for me is helping athletes develop these life skills (discipline, good work ethic, great attitude, kind to self and problem solving) while on the court and help them develop their tennis skills to the best level of play for the athlete. The more a tennis player plays, the better they become, the better they become they more they enjoy it.

Tasmanian Tennis Academy Policies

Child safety/Use of toilets

Keeping our children safe is very important and a high priority to the Tasmanian Tennis Academy. We aim to follow and comply with Tennis Australia’s policies and procedures relating to child safety.

It is important for parents to understand that the tennis club is a place where public and members are regularly on site at the same time as our activities.

It is requested that parents take their children to the toilet before coaching sessions begin as the coach is unable to leave the tennis court to supervise children who need to go during this time.

The same applies during longer events like School Holiday activities. The tennis club is a public venue and is open to the public even when junior events are running.  If your athlete needs to use the bathroom during the day and you are not present to supervise them, then please encourage them to take a buddy with them.

Early drop off/Late pick up

Adequate supervision before tennis sessions begin is the responsibility of parents. Children are most welcome to grab a racquet and ball from the pro shop and practice on the wall or court until the class begins, but until the class begins, the parents of these children are responsible for supervising their child.

Parents need to collect their children on time. This is especially important for the last class of the day. Most days when I leave the courts, I am heading straight to another location that requires me to be at this location by a certain time.  Parents arriving more than 5 mins past the finish of their child’s class may be subject to a $15 per 5 minutes late charge.

Refund

Pre-payment for activities is the normal method of operation. If a child is unable to participate in an activity, then you may request that a credit towards a future tennis activity be given. This request will be considered but is not guaranteed. It is up to the discretion of the Head Coach.

If a child misses a normal weekly term class, there is no refund or credit available.

Make up session policy

On occasion there may be an option for an athlete to make up their session in another class. This needs to be pre approved by Pip and is subject to availability in the requested group.

Financial hardship

If there is ever a time where you are experiencing genuine financial hardship or cash flow challenges, please have a confidential conversation with Pip outside of coaching hours to find a low stress solution that works best for your family.

Questions/Issues/Things you need to discuss with Head Coach

Please refrain from asking me administrative questions or questions about your athletes progress or similar when I am about to head on court to coach, or on court coaching or just finished coaching. As a part of my coaching service, I am available via text, email or phone most days of the week. I do regularly coach in schools, so as a result my availability does vary from week to week.

Photography

Parents/guardians are permitted to take photos/videos of their children on court playing tennis. Please ensure that no other children are included in the photos/video. If you accidentally include another child, please crop them from the photo and delete the original photo.

The only exception to this, is where permission has been given by the other parent.

Non parents/guardians (eg other family members or friends), need to identify themselves and ask for permission from the Head Coach or Tournament director before taking photos of a child while at the Devonport Tennis Club.

If anyone sees someone taking photos/video footage at the Devonport Tennis Club, please report this immediately to the Head Coach or Tournament director.

Smoking

The Devonport Tennis Club is a non smoking facility. This means that there is to be no smoking anywhere on the premises or withing a 20 metre range of the premises. If at any time you notice that someone may not be following this, please chat with Pip and she will do her best to resolve the issue.

Child safety concerns

We take the safety of our children seriously and want to keep our children safe at all times. If at any time you or your child has even the slightest concern about something, please let confidentially know.

Private Coaching policy and pricing

There is a selection criteria to qualify for private lessons. Children need to be doing at least 2 sessions of tennis per week plus ideally weekly match play too. The 2 sessions per week might be a squad group session and then on another day, they have a productive hit of tennis with one of their friends of another family member. Athletes must be super keen to improve, display a teachable attitude and a willingness to work hard.  

Tennis racquet policy

Athletes are more than welcome to borrow one of my racquets especially when they are in red and orange ball. The size of the racquet being used is very important as it helps the athlete develop a great technique and long swing. If the racquet is too big, it can affect the correct development of the stroke.

Once an athlete reaches green ball they should be using a 26” size racquet. (This can vary depending on the athletes height and strength).

I do have a supply of different size racquets available, with prices starting from $40 to $400.

Clothing policy

It is important that athletes come to tennis prepared and wearing sports gear during training sessions.

It is preferable that the clothing they wear has a large pocket that can easily fit a couple of tennis balls in it and that is easy to get the ball in and out of the pocket.

If your athlete is playing tennis quite a bit, it may be very worthwhile investing in a good pair of tennis shoes. These will wear longer and give the lateral support needed on court.

Hydration policy

It is preferable that athletes bring a water bottle filled with water to each training session. My preferred liquid on court is water.

If athletes empty their water bottle during practice, there is a tap on the side of the club rooms that they can use to refill.