The American Sport Education Program (ASEP) brings the hard court to your hard drive with Coaching Tennis Technical and Tactical Skills online course, a newly released online course for tennis coaches of athletes 15 and older and those coaching higher-ability players ages 11 to 14. Kirk Anderson, director of recreational coaches and programs for USTA, served as content expert for the course, from which you will learn how to
• explain the relationship and difference between technical and tactical skills and describe the traditional and games approaches to tennis practice;
• evaluate technical and tactical tennis skills in your players and make use of your evaluation results;
• teach, critique, and correct essential technical skills;
• teach, critique, and correct essential tactical skills;
• prepare effective season plans and individual practice plans; and
• prepare for match days, coach matches, and work with your team after games.
As coaches progress through the course, they are asked to read portions of the Coaching Tennis Technical and Tactical Skills book—written by ASEP in conjunction with Anderson—and view video clips to complete course units. Coaches will learn about different approaches to coaching, including the games approach (an alternative to drills-based coaching); developing season plans and practice plans; and improving their ability to coach during games.
The course includes skill demonstration and error detection and correction. ASEP, through a partnership with Dartfish, has incorporated aspects of the Dartfish video technology into the course. Coaches can break down technical and tactical skills of tennis by viewing Dartfish tennis media books that allow users to view video frame by frame.
Other features include Coaching Aids, a storehouse of printable PDF documents that are incorporated throughout the course. These include practice plans, sport first aid checklists, and drill sheets. Coaches have access to the clipboard for up to one year, even after they've completed the course.
The course draws content from the Coaching Tennis Technical and Tactical Skills book, which is included in the course fee, along with access to the online course and test, one-year access to the course including Coaching Aids (PDF downloads), automatic scoring, certificate of course completion, and entry in the ASEP National Coaches Registry.
After completing the course units, coaches take the 40-question course test online and receive immediate results. Coaches who successfully complete the course are automatically entered into the ASEP National Coaches Registry, an online listing of coaches who have completed ASEP courses. Sport administrators have access to the registry, allowing them to track coaches' course completion and certifications with minimal time and effort. Coaches' certifications are valid for three years and are renewable through the completion of additional ASEP courses.
Unit 1 Teaching Sport Skills
Unit 2 Evaluating Technical and Tactical Skills
Unit 3 Foundational Skills
Unit 4 Strokes and Shots
Unit 5 Singles and Doubles Tactics
Unit 6 Offensive Tactical Skills
Unit 7 Defensive Tactical Skills
Unit 8 Season Plans
Unit 9 Practice Plans
Unit 10 Preparing for Matches
Unit 11 During and After the Match
ASEP has been developing and delivering coaching education courses since 1981. As the nation’s leader in providing coaching education programs, ASEP works with national, state, and local sport organizations to develop educational programs for coaches, officials, administrators, and parents. These programs incorporate ASEP’s philosophy of “Athletes first, winning second.”
Kirk Anderson is director of recreational coaches and programs for USTA. He is one of only a handful of tennis teaching pros worldwide who are designated as master professionals in both the Professional Tennis Registry and United States Professional Tennis Association. Anderson was recognized in 2003 by the International Tennis Hall of Fame and honored with its Tennis Educational Merit Award. He is one of the co-directors of the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference, the annual gathering held at the beginning of the US Open that attracts hundreds of teaching pros from the United States and around the world. He is also in charge of the on-court activities for the yearly Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, which takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on the Saturday before the US Open begins.
In his role as USTA director of recreational coaches and programs, one of Anderson’s key initiatives is the Recreational Coach Workshops, which involve parents and other volunteers in teaching and coaching players at the recreational level. This national program, presented in cooperation with the United States Professional Tennis Association and Professional Tennis Registry, offers training to help develop recreation coaches.
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