By: Hannah Thompson
I started playing tennis at the age of 12 and instantly fell in love with the sport. I was playing competitive soccer at the time but realized that concentrating on tennis would not only help me become the best player I could, but it would also lead to a successful career in the sport. At 16, I decided to work towards my first teaching qualification with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) in between my training and tournament regimen. This allowed me to gain hands-on experience at a young age helping out at my local club on weekends and during the busy summer months.
The LTA coaching qualifications in England are very prestigious and take a lot of time and knowledge to complete. There are 5 levels of qualifications available in England from Level 1 assistant all the way up to Level 5 master performance coach. Each certification requires hours of teaching on court, lesson plans, theory work and testing. These qualifications prepare you for teaching all ages and abilities and give you an all-round technical knowledge like no other qualification out there.
In England and in Europe, we are fortunate to have a lot of different playing surfaces (real grass, clay, synthetic grass, hard, indoor). Playing and teaching on this variety of surfaces on these surfaces gives you a better understanding of the game, how to adapt and the strategy involved in playing on different surfaces. My playing and coaching experience alongside my completed LTA certifications gave me the knowledge and confidence to take the next step in my life adventure which was my dream to travel to America to play and coach. In particular the exposure to playing and coaching on grass courts helped my coaching skills tremendously. The faster surface of grass forces players to move better, improve their volleys and end points quicker. This in turn creates all court players. The lack of grass courts in the USA has hindered the overall development of players in the USA.
Due to my experience in playing and coaching through the Lawn Tennis Association I received a full tennis scholarship to play for Brenau University in Georgia and had an incredible 4 years playing, traveling and experiencing the American way of life. After graduating I knew I wanted to build a career in the tennis industry and share my skills with others. At that stage I underwent further training and joined TENCO. This company allowed me to travel to unique and beautiful destinations across the country, enhancing my coaching experience and knowledge with the end goal to be a Director of Tennis and run my own facility. I have now been a Director of Tennis for two seasonal facilities in Colorado and the Florida Keys and am currently Assistant Director of Tennis at one of the biggest club locations in the country, Weston Racquet Club in South Florida.
I am lucky to share my British coaching expertise in the US and if I could offer one takeaway from my trajectory, it would be to gain experience, knowledge and training and follow your dreams as anything is possible!
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