Tennis instructors are a key ingredient to recruiting and training new tennis players. It is a rewarding career choice that offers jobs in community parks and recreation areas, private tennis camps, high schools, colleges and for Team USA Tennis. Various workshops and training courses are available to achieve any level of training expertise.
USTA Recreational Coach Workshops
The United States Tennis Association, known as USTA, is part of Team USA Olympic tennis training. The beginning tennis instructor training is a recreational coach workshop. This is an interactive workshop where both tennis teachers and coaches work with players at the recreational level on the court. This is a six-hour workshop for new coaches or those looking for a refresher course. This workshop is open to parents seeking the basics in coaching and working with team tennis, park and recreation instructors, high school and seasonal coaches, private tennis coaches and any adults new to the game looking to learn the basics. Recreational coach workshops are available in various cities around the country.
Professional Tennis Registry Certification
The Professional Tennis Registry, also referred to as PTR, has three areas of tennis instructor training with certifications. The three basic training areas include junior development, adult development and performance. A Master of Tennis Program is also available for tennis instructors wishing to advance their education in each of the three areas of certification. The PTR has five certification levels: associate instructor, instructor, professional, master of tennis and master professional. The PTR was founded in 1976 by coach Dennis Van der Meer. It is an internationally recognized tennis teaching certification program.
United States Professional Tennis Association
The United States Professional Tennis Association was founded in 1927 and is the oldest tennis association teaching tennis instructors. The USPTA has a career development program for tennis instructor training. There are five programs: the accredited professional coach, USPTA player development program, USPTA specialist program, USPTA distance-learning program and professional tennis management programs. The program is a structured tennis instructor education program ending in certification. They offer online classes as well as structured classroom/court learning. In addition to the tennis instructor training and certification, they offer specialist degrees in competitive player development, little tennis, facility management, computer technology, sport science, pro shop operations and wheelchair tennis.
ACE Tennis Coach Training
Canadian coach Wayne Elderton, who has provided tennis instructor training for over 1,500 coaches, started Advanced Coaching Education, or Acecoach. Acecoach's approach in tennis instructor training is teaching in a learner-centered way, taking a game-based approach to training and teaching tennis as an open skill sport. The training model emphasizes actual play instead of reproducing a technical tennis model. The focus is to educate instructors on how to teach skills and employ mental training and visualization, which results in a more balanced tennis player. They also have a program for wheelchair coaching.
References
- Acecoach.com: Are you ready for tennis coaching in the 21st century?
- CBS BNET: Tennis instructor training
- Middlestates USTA: Recreational Coach Workshops
- Team USA: USTA Recreational Coach Workshops
- Professional Tennis Registry: Education/Certification
- United States Professional Tennis Association: Building Your Tennis Career
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