On
Jan 22 Tennis Québec held a wheelchair tennis instructor workshop at the
Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. Please read
below a short recount by one of the
participants, Melanie Aymes, ( sports psychologist and Club Pro II Coach) :
The training was held over a day at Uniprix Stadium led
by High Performance coach Séverine Tamborero. We were six participants, mostly
working coaches for the last few years.
- First, we heard a presentation about wheelchair tennis (history, international status, tournament classifications & possibilities of evolution).
- We then went into further detail, with the help of the ‘Participant Manual’, about the practice of wheelchair tennis, discussing several important points such as :
- Lesions and their consequences on a player’s ability
- Wheelchair characteristics and how to adjust based on lesions
- Practiced the ‘evolutionary tennis’ format (mini nets and depressurized balls) to become familiar with the wheelchair.
- After the break, we focused on the technical and tactical aspects of wheelchair tennis. We discussed a point and then put it into action (full court, real balls).
Here are some of the points that were addressed:
- Mobility (movement, placement ….)
- Pivots (base and choice according to momentum)
- Serve
- Serve returns
- Doubles (different positions of partner and server, different combinations and tactics)
Thoughts on Course:
- Interesting and informative training that gave us the basics to be able to help and initiate someone who wants to discover wheelchair tennis.
- We addressed several more elaborate points that I think will allow us to coach more experienced players (taking into consideration that we are coaches with a basic knowledge). Putting into practice what we’ve learned and input from the players will improve our experience and expand our knowledge.
