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Tennis · Level 8: Expert · Sub-level 8.1

A Coaching Philosophy

4 tests · 40 facts · updated 12 October 2026 · markdown

How a coach thinks about the job: putting the player at the centre, teaching through games, giving feedback that helps, and the coach's role on match day.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Player-centred coachingTake a test

  1. Player-centred coaching starts from what this player needs and involves them in decisions.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  2. Guided questions make the player think, which tends to make the learning stick.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  3. The coach designs the task and the questions; the player discovers the answer within it.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  4. When players have a say, they are more invested in the work they do.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  5. Open questions about what the player noticed draw out their own understanding.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

  6. In matches the player decides alone, so a player never asked to decide is unprepared.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  7. One player needs calm reassurance, another a challenge; the same words land differently.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  8. The more the player is involved in finding solutions, the more player-centred the style.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  9. The player's view comes first; the coach adds to it and they agree the next step together.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  10. The coach asks what the player noticed, which is a player-centred question.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

Test 2The game-based approachTake a test

  1. Skills are practised in game situations, so technique and tactics develop together.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  2. A game reveals the problem, which the following practice then works on.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  3. The second game checks whether the practised skill now shows up in play.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  4. A rule such as a bonus for winning at the net makes players practise the skill the coach wants.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  5. Matches demand decisions, and practice that includes decisions trains them.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  6. A closed drill can give repetitions on a specific weakness before it goes back into play.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  7. Scoring that rewards a behaviour makes players choose it more often.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

  8. The first game shows the need, the practice works on it, and the last game tests it.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  9. The more decisions and opposition an activity has, the closer it is to a match.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  10. In play-practice-play, the focused practice sits between the two games.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

Test 3Feedback and attentionTake a test

  1. Result feedback tells the outcome; technique feedback describes the movement that produced it.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  2. Too much feedback can make a player depend on it; fading it builds self-correction.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  3. Cues such as 'send it over the cone' point attention outside the body.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  4. The cue names an effect on the ball, not a body part.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

  5. Studies in motor learning (Wulf and others) often find external focus helps performance and learning, though not for every task.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  6. Several corrections at once overload attention, so none of them sticks.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  7. Feedback soon after the attempt can be linked to what the player felt.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  8. A target outside the body is the most external; a body segment is the most internal.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  9. Observation comes first, then one point, a short cue, and a check that it worked.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  10. A cone is a target outside the body, which supports external-focus coaching.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

Test 4The coach on match dayTake a test

  1. Right before a match is no time to change things; clarity and calm help most.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  2. A new movement is not yet automatic, so pressure makes it break down.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  3. Watching quietly and noting what happens gives material for later work.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  4. Straight after a match emotions run high; a little later the player can listen.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  5. Judging only by the score can reward poor play or punish good play.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  6. A visibly tense coach can make the player tense too.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  7. A few clear lessons turn the loss into a plan for practice.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  8. The plan comes before the match, the debrief after a pause.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · recall

  9. A specific, actionable point helps most; a long list of errors helps least.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

  10. A chart that shows a winning pattern gives the debrief something concrete to build on.

    Source: General coaching methodology reference (coach education) · applied

Sources

ITF coach-education materials, ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review, federation curricula, motor-learning and youth-sport research as summarised in coach education; original questions authored, nothing reproduced. Numbered ITF rules belong to the Rules category.

  • General coaching methodology reference (coach education)40