Dear Parents and Carers;

Welcome to the London Tennis Academy. We wanted to take this opportunity to share our coaching philosophy with you. Tennis can be an exciting, fun game with a great opportunity for children to learn new skills and to make new friends. Our program is run in a very specific way that reflects our philosophy. As you read through this page please be sure that our philosophy meets your expectations.

ETHOS

Children participate in tennis in a safe and friendly environment. We believe that fun is the key and fundamental element to the teaching methods in our Academy. We strive to inspire, encourage and develop your childs skills in every drill we do. We have procedures in place to ensure that all children are treated fairly and equally, with all coaches being fully aware of their responsibilities.

COACH RESPONSIBILITIES

• To ensure children’s safety
• To motivate the children to give 100% effort
• To ensure the children show full respect to their peers and coaches

HEAD COACHES

DAMIAN NZEKWU – At age 13, Damian was one of the top players in Middlesex and by 17 he was one of the top 10 juniors in the country. He was additionally competing in international tournaments on a regular basis. Damian has over 17 years of coaching experience and has worked with players of all levels and ages.

GADDO GUIDOTTI – Represented Italy between the ages of 12 and 18 and competed in many international events. He has been coaching for over 15 years and has worked with ATP ranked players.

As head coaches they hold relevant licenses, DBS checks and are First Aid qualified. They regularly attend courses to maintain their license and to keep up with changing techniques within the sport.

COACHES

All of our coaches are licensed or registered either with the PTR or the LTA at Levels 1, 2 or 3. We provide opportunities for young individuals who are just starting out on their career path, to get involved in coaching. They are called Tennis Leaders.

COACHING PHILOSOPHY

• We believe that children can gain confidence and a love for the game through positive feedback from coaches, parents and carers. Skill levels develop at different rates for each child, but effort and fun can always be achieved, so we like to always provide positive feedback to the child for his/her effort.
• Because attention span is often short with younger children we strive to keep them active by having a well structured and organised session.
• Competition is an important element of any sport and as children grow they naturally become more competitive. We don’t talk to the children about needing to win a game, we feel our role (and that of the parent) is to help the children develop the ability to deal with competition in a healthy way. Effort and attitude is our focus.
• We work on teaching fundamentals and skills during sessions but when the child plays a match we believe it is their time to use what they have learnt in practice and we will only give instruction if we believe it will help their performance. We aim for them to enjoy the match and feel confident in themselves.
• We understand that long-term progress is more important than short-term results and that in the right environment all children have the potential to progress.
• We aim to develop independent and determined young tennis players who strive for excellence and see that improving is fun.

OBJECTIVES

• To have fun and let children develop a natural love for the game.
• To teach the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship
• To give positive reinforcement based on effort as opposed to results
• To provide a safe environment

We hope this letter highlights our commitment to the development of your child and we expect all attendees to comply with our philosophy.