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Four local tennis coaches have been putting the knowledge they gained from a recent tennis coaching conference into practice. The trip to the British Tennis Association Coaches Conference was made possible thanks to a bursary from Generali Worldwide, the Guernsey Island Games Association sponsor.
Rob West, Gareth Coombes, Jo Robinson and Richard Smeed from the Guernsey Lawn Tennis Association were all inspired by the conference, which will no doubt help to improve preparations for the Island Games later this year.
The coaching conference was a mix of presentations and practical, on-court workshops. The bursary meant that four coaches could attend, which allowed them to cover all the relevant sessions.
The coaches attended sessions covering a wide variety of topics, including: working with young performance players; behaviour and emotional intelligence; the technical breakdown and visual coordination.
“With our high performance players in mind we looked at neuronics, which was very interesting. The expert spoke about training ball-to-eye co-ordination using different techniques which have not been used within tennis before. Having this kind of insight is invaluable and we have already put this new knowledge to good use in our Island Games preparations,” explained Richard Smeed.
Another one of the coaches who attended, Rob West, explained some of the other benefits of the conference: “As well as learning new skills which will help us to become better coaches, attending the conference allowed us to network with other coaches, which is invaluable.”
“Supporting coaches with their own development can have a significant impact on the long-term success of the sport on the island so it’s pleasing to see the bursary being used in this way,” said Giorgio Daboni, Chief Executive Officer of Generali Worldwide in Guernsey.
The Island Games team sponsorship is part of Generali Worldwide’s commitment to sport in the community.
