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Using SportsEdTV For High School Tennis Coaches 6-Step Program To Improve Your Team’s Results
SportsEdTV allows all coaches, whether experienced or new to tennis, to become more effective at helping players improve. It’s free to use and features world-class instruction for players of all levels.
Last fall, I conducted a test with Steve Schakade, Tennis Director of Frisco High School in Frisco, Texas, and their three middle schools. Steve had his players watch a curriculum of SportsEdTV videos for thirty days in advance of me giving his players a clinic on the topics in the videos they watched. Steve had his players watch specific videos. He asked the players to take notes on the videos they watched and also had them watch videos on phones or tablets during practices. When we finally conducted the clinic after the thirty-day test, his players were able to grasp the techniques very easily and improved much quicker than they would have had they not watched the videos.
After attending the Texas High School Coaching Association’s Conference this past November, and talking to hundreds of coaches, each of who expressed interest in using the videos in a similar manner to Steve at Frisco, I decided to prepare this 6-Step Program to help coaches get started.
Here are the steps in the program to help your high school team improve:
STEP 1: Look through the tennis video library on SportsEdTV, and make note of the key videos that cover the basic fundamentals of the game: movement, forehand, backhand, and serve. Pick a few videos in each area to create a curriculum. You can copy the links for each video using the “copy link” button at the bottom of each video. If you are also responsible for the middle school tennis programs, extend this program to them as well, so all the players will improve and be prepared as they advance their grade levels. If you have multiple coaches, include them in the process of developing the curriculum and the questions on a worksheet that you send to each player.
STEP 2: Send the video curriculum, by email, to the players in your program. Have the coaches follow up with the players and check that they are watching. The players can simply click the links in the email to access the videos.
STEP 3: Give the players a worksheet with questions to answer about the videos. Ask them to fill out the answers after watching the videos. Discuss the details with them and let them ask questions.
STEP 4: Depending on the duration of your season, you can send the curriculum of videos in advance in the form of a syllabus, or can email the video selections weekly, and have the players watch a new video or two each week.
STEP 5: Then, take the videos to the court, either on a smartphone or tablet. Have the players review the video on the skill or drill you will be practicing, and let them execute the shots. If the players need to review the video, they can stop and review it on the court. Have the players pair up and help each other learn the skills. We found in the test with Frisco that players learned faster when they had a chance to teach the skills to a partner.
STEP 6: Review the team’s progress on each skill, as well as their improvement in match results at the end of the season and plan the curriculum for the next season accordingly. What are they learning more easily with the videos? What skills take more time to learn? How can you improve the use of the videos as a teaching tool?
My experience working with Steve in Frisco, and other coaches that have used the SportsEdTV videos before heading to the courts, has shown significant speed in learning. The players have been able to improve their skills and their playing levels faster than without using the videos.
At SportsEdTV, we have made world-class coaching available to everyone equally. The videos are free to watch, and players can watch an unlimited amount of videos as often as they like. As we continue to build the video library, more and more videos and drills will be added. These videos will help your team have access to the best possible coaching resource and help them become as competitive as possible in your league and state.
Stay tuned for more information on how to use SportsEdTV to improve your tennis team’s results.
