Next Gen Motivation: Engage the Kids of Today

with Emma Doyle,
Tennis Australia High Performance Coach;
ACE Coach Education and Sports NLP Director;
United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) - Professional 1;
Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Performance Coach;
Emotional Intelligence and Neuro-Linguistic Programing (NLP) Practitioner;
2006 Australian Junior Fed Cup Captain and Junior World Team Captain (2003-2006);
20+ years of experience in teaching, coaching, and mentoring (coached at Bollettieri, Saddlebrook and Evert tennis academies);
played collegiately (#1 singles/doubles, MVP) at Middle Tennessee State University

Young kids of today are unique compared to past generations and learn in very different ways. In this video, Tennis Australia High Performance Coach Emma Doyle shows how today's tennis teaching professionals can connect with the current generation of kids. She shows how to adjust the teaching environment to gets kids excited about tennis and build strong fundamentals. In this video, Coach Doyle guides kids through five creative drills and explains how tennis coaches can provide teaching moments for students and make learning tennis fun.

Connecting with Kids

Coach Doyle is a master at connecting with kids. In each of the learning drills, Coach Doyle emphasizes:

• Gamification - Making the learning environment for kids. Kids are encouraged to have fun and thus embrace competition. Gradually, the activity teaches players strong tennis fundamentals.
• Limited Focus - Coach Doyle shows how to focus on one learning activity at a time. As a kid becomes more advanced, the drills are scalable such that the teacher can add more complexity.

Drills Section

Each drill is designed to bring fun and excitement to the tennis court. More importantly, your kids will learn solid tennis fundamentals by playing out the games.

• Hat Trick is a fast game that emphasizes serving and returning skills. By relaxing the server from the traditional constraints of the tennis court, the player gets to explore how to generate more power and spin. Meanwhile, the returner has to multi-task, learn how to be efficient with the feet, and work out of a defensive situation when put under stress.
• North, South, East, West is a creative game which combines court geometry and developing positive energy. Points are played from various starting positions on the court. There is a strong emphasis on rewarding good play with positive affirmations which make the player feel good about their effort. As kids go through the learning process in this game, Doyle shows how to layer in teachable moments for the student.
• See-Saw Serving is a fun game in which two players gain points for good outcomes on the court (hitting in correct direction, accurate ball placement), and are penalized for bad outcomes such as hitting in the net. Coach Doyle shows how this is a fun way to reinforce good fundamentals.
• Rip or Return is a fun, competitive learning game which gets kids to enjoy developing fast feet and good footwork while learning basic decision-making.
• Baker's Dozen is a fun serving competition which can be played by multiple players. The emphasis is on developing serve accuracy under a pressure situation.

With all the games, Coach Doyle shows you how to adapt them based on the skill level and maturity of your players. More complexity can be added for a more advanced student. Conversely, Coach Doyle shows how to scale back drills when kids need more simplicity at a beginner level.

This video is a fantastic resource that will show you how to embrace and love the current generation of kids who want to learn tennis!

62 minutes. 2019.