From my experience of coaching disability tennis, I found it best to jump in at the deep end, I would offer to take or assist with any or every disability session possible. There are so many courses to go on that are brilliant for preparing you to coach, however with the different areas of disability tennis, without the players to gain experience with you are limited to other coaches on the course with simulating equipment like glasses and earplugs which are ok but not ideal!
From my experience with VI Tennis, I went on a VI course where a number of coaches who know the drills and are not visually impaired at all put glasses on to falsify the scenario. This is not in any way like a VI session with VI players. The players I work with are much more understanding and have learned to adapt with their impairment. During the course the content was fantastic but until you get stuck in with VI players and speak with them during and after sessions, then you will never have a complete understanding of VI tennis. I am only a few weeks into my experience and love it however the courses I have been on have not fully prepared me for the sessions.
The courses focus too much on the drills and not enough on the players themselves but this comes from not having any VI players to work with.
It’s much the same in Deaf tennis although the courses were much more helpful as the course tutor was a GB deaf tennis player. With that course there was a lot more focus on the players and communication and a smaller section on court running 2 or 3 drills. Even though the course was fantastic, it focused too much on a higher standard of tennis and the players I am working with are all beginners and range from 5-90 years of age. They are based in a small hall and the largest group I take is 20 5-18 year olds with two mini red courts, with limited signing skills I had been taught the basics on the course, like ‘stand there’ and ‘watch me’ etc, which has been extremely helpful.
I work the closest with LD (learning difficulty) tennis, and one player in particular who is currently competing regularly in national LD tournaments and I am starting to introduce to mainstream matchplay and tournaments. With no prior training on working with LD players I have had to adapt through experience, and the players I work with are mainly autistic and I have had experience with autism as one of my social group has autism.
As autism is more common than is thought, more coaches need to be trained in LD tennis in particular as conditions such as ADHD and autism are common in mainstream tennis and coaches just think that the players are deliberately being naughty. The player I work with had been pushed from coach to coach as he was seen to be difficult however he has calmed down now and is being invited into mainstream squads and matchplay.
I would advise anyone doing any tennis coaching to go on as many disability coaching courses as they can as it will start to prepare them for anything although the best thing to do alongside the courses is jump in at the deep end and offer your time up to any disability session to gain ‘proper’ experience not a falsified environment.
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