10 Essential Coaching Skills Checklist
Get a Grip on these Skills (at a minimum).
Warning! This is the “easy stuff”! See THIS PAGE for details.
Success in coaching is built on a complex combination of technical and interpersonal skills, tied together by motivational ability rooted in belief in individual and group achievement. Let’s keep learning!
1. Feeding
- Basics: hand feed, racquet feed, loft, location of bounce relative to player
- Adding challenge: speed, direction, distance, spin, deception
2. Stroke Technique
- Basics: forehand/backhand/serve/volley, swing pattern, racquet face awareness (more important than grips!), backswing & follow-through, how throwing relates to swinging
3. Footwork Technique
- Athletic stance, side shuffle, movement, large step acceleration, small step deceleration, adjusting steps, creating ground force and weight transfer
4. Progressions
- Slow/fast, short/long, low/high, flat/spin, near/far, static/dynamic, simple/complex, individual/cooperative partner, Quick Start balls and racquets
5. General Athletic Skills
- Agility, balance, dexterity, speed, strength, flexibility, fitness, coordination, hand-to-eye, proprioception
- Biomechanics, ground force, leverage, eccentric plyometrics, acceleration, deceleration
- Throwing, swinging
6. The Court
- Names of lines and areas, net
7. The Game
- Scoring, line calling, strategy (depth, angles, spin, power)
- Local and regional teams and play opportunities, USTA
8. The History
- Amateur, professional, slams, players, icons
9. Communication
- Name memorization tricks, “court persona”: projecting voice & personality & enthusiasm
10. Safety
- Activity-related safety, Safe Sport, First aid, Covid safety