PTR December 2011 Newsletter - Professional Tennis Registry

PTR December 2011 Newsletter
Welcome to the monthly PTR newsletter for the UK.
Here we will give you news and views from around the globe
as well as from your home soil!
Dan Santorum (CEO PTR)
If you’ve never been to the Intl.
Symposium, you’re missing out!
Join hundreds of teaching pros
from around the world for the first
ever PTR International Tennis
Symposium to take place in
Orlando, Florida. You’ll get the
exceptional educational and
networking opportunities you’ve
grown to expect, but with the
added bonus of being adjacent to
Disney World at the family friendly
Hyatt Grand Cypress! Your family
will enjoy an endless array of
activities, including free shuttle
service to the theme parks, while
you expand your knowledge with
everything you’ll need to return to
your job with rejuvenated passion
for teaching the game, an arsenal
of new drills and programming
ideas, and a wealth of economic
strategies. PTR Week is for every
tennis teacher on every level. And
you’ll make new friends and
network with colleagues in the
tennis industry.
While I have been to England many times for ITF meetings or Wimbledon,
I have only attended one PTR event and that was 20 years ago. Ironically,
my trip to London on January 17 th will be at the same venue – David
Lloyd’s in Heston. After presenting a three hour course on Competitive
Doubles games, which is free to current PTR members, we will have a
social hour that will feature questions from the audience. To register
please email andy@ptrtennis.org
As I stated in my initial email message to you in August, the PTR
International Headquarters is going to be much more active than in the
past. That combined with the service that Andy will be providing and the
excellent education that Anne Pankhurst (Junior Development and
Performance) and Andy (Adult Development) will provide throughout the
country, will help us continually build and revitalize PTR in Great Britain.
Certainly our sponsorship agreement with HEAD is an indication that we
are working on your behalf moving forward. We will give you details or
where to obtain trade price equipment soon.
We appreciate your patience and understanding during this transition. We
welcome your feedback on how we can improve. Have a safe and Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope to see you on January 17 th at David
Lloyds in Heston and/or in Orlando for the PTR Symposium – Feb 24 – 27.
Thanks for Making a World of Difference,

PRACTICE OF THE MONTH
Please take a moment to take note of the following contact details
PTR
PO BOX 11126
BILLERICAY
CM12 2DG
07508704380
andy@ptrtennis.org
We look forward to serving you and with your help and continuing
professionalism we will grow the PTR in the UK!
PTR ANNOUNCES HEAD UK SPONSORSHIP
Always look to teach your students
to be efficient, effective and
consistent in all they do.
This exercise is great for working on
the racket take back. ‘Get your
racket back early’ is a common
phrase but does not teach much!
The best window of opportunity is
from the first step to before the ball
bounce. Have the student call back
on the take back and ensure this is
prior to the ball bounce.
Rally with your student and give
them a point every time they
commit to the skill whilst you gain a
point if they fail to commit!
We are pleased to announce our partnership with HEAD UK! HEAD
will be the official tennis equipment supplier for PTR coaches and
courses in the UK.
HEAD UK will provide special PTR discount pricing on:
Tennis balls · Rackets · Shoes · Tennis Bags · Jr. Rackets
We will be hosting PTR Workshops at many clubs around Great
Britain where you will be able to see the equipment in use.

PTR RENEWAL 2012!
Only £73
It’s that time of year to renew your PTR membership
We will still continue to provide great service including....
An International Qualification
(currently recognised in 117 countries around the world)
Liability Insurance
MAP Coach Education Courses with LTA license credits
Annual National Symposium
(currently planned during the first week of Wimbledon with top speakers from around the world)
Annual International Symposium
Tennis Pro Magazine
Tennis Magazine
Tennis One Subscription
Monthly UK newsletter
PTR Discount on Head Products
(Including tennis Rackets and bags, trainers and balls)
AND
Renew for £73 before December 31 st and get the
FREE effective feeding DVD
Tennis News in Brief......
Sydney International lures hot field
TENNIS fans in Sydney are in for a rare
treat, as nine of the top 10 women have
been confirmed for next month's
Sydney International.
The event, which acts as a lead-up to
the Australian Open will include eight
Grand Slam champions, four current or
former world No.1's and four previous
Sydney winners.
World No.1 women's player Caroline
Wozniacki headlines the draw, along
with three reigning Grand Slam title
holders in Wimbledon champion Petra
Kvitova (No.2), French Open winner Li
Na (No.5) and Australia's own US Open
champion Samantha Stosur (No.6).
Former No.1's Ana Ivanovic and Jelena
Jankovic have also been confirmed for
the tournament, which starts on
January 8.
The men's draw will be headlined by
former world No. 4 and 2009 US Open
champion Juan Martin Del Potro,
Marcus Baghdatis and Australia's
Lleyton Hewitt.
"To have such a stunning line-up of
Grand Slam champions, former world
No.1's and fan favourites taking part in
the event is a very exciting prospect,"
Tournament Director Craig Watson said.
You can renew...
Online...
http://www.ptrtennis.org/membership/great-britain/membership
By phone... 07508704380
"The women's event has again attracted
the world's best and with last year's
women's finalists going on to play in the
Australian Open final, the event is the
perfect preparation for the season's first
Grand Slam."
By post... PTR PO BOX 11126 BILLERICAY
Please make cheques payable to PTR
CM12 2DG
Wildcards will be announced over the
coming weeks with Lleyton Hewitt
world number 188 having already been
elected. Tournament director Craig Tiley
said 30-year-old Hewitt deserved to be
awarded the wild card.
Cassandra Murnieks
Oz Journalist

PTR Certification going forwards
Anne Pankhurst
PTR Education Consultant
Two new Certification workshops are being introduced by PTR worldwide and coaches in Great Britain are
in the first group to get the chance to attend them. Italy and Germany are next with China and Japan
coming on board in 2012! All these countries are introducing the new workshops that have been running in
the US since the beginning of 2011.
The intention of the workshops and Certification programme is to give every member the training they want
and need to coach specific age groups and abilities of player. PTR has realised that some coaches prefer
to work with young children, others like coaching players who want to be the best they can be and others
like working with adults. In any one workshop or training course it is impossible to learn how to coach such
a diverse range of players and so the PTR has developed a new Coach Education pathway that mirrors the
player development pathway. This is a whole new way of educating coaches for the PTR and has been
welcomed by many coaches.
PTR coaches can now attend a workshop and then become certified to coach either 10 and under players,
adults or performance juniors. What’s more, each of these certifications enables the coach to progress to a
Master of Tennis (MoT) qualification for the same age and stage of player. For coaches who are already
PTR certified, they can now say they have the Adult Certification. Coaches are also able to take more than
one certification, thus becoming better trained to coach one or more age and level of player
The first of these workshops and certification has already taken place in England. Known as JD (Junior
Development) this workshop was for coaches who want to work with 10 and under players. It took place in
Redbridge in November over 2 days and was attended by 12 coaches (the maximum is 16 on any one
course). It has a different approach and new ideas for working successfully with such young players.
More JD workshops have been scheduled in the next few months as well as a number for the Performance
certification. If you are an LTA Licensed coach then you can also obtain 12 CLS credits for attending the
workshop. And if you want to continue your education pathway you could be interested in the next level: the
PTR Master of Tennis qualification in Junior Development, Adult Development or Performance!
Future Courses
Junior Development
(10 and under)
Jan 5-6
Delta Tennis Centre, Swindon, Wiltshire
Performance (10 - 13) Jan 7-8 Dan Maskell Tennis Centre, Loughborough University, Leicestershire
Junior Development
(10 and under)
Jan 10-11
South Ribble Tennis Centre, Preston, Lancashire
Performance (10 - 13) Jan 15 & Jan 29 Millfield School Tennis Centre, Street, Somerset
Adult Development Jan 23-25 David Lloyd, Heston, England
Adult Development Feb 15-17 Milton Keynes, England
Adult Development Mar 19-21 Enfield, England
Adult Development Apr 3-5 Leeds, England

Refresh and Retests
24 – 25 January David Lloyd Heston
04 – 05 April David Lloyd Leeds
07 – 08 June Bath
25 – 26 September Romford, Essex
19 – 20 December Dartford, Kent
Continuing Professional Development Workshops
17 January – Situational Games and Practices followed by Coaches Forum – DLL Heston
FREE FOR ALL MEMBERS
This will be run by Dan Santorum
13 February - Technical & Tactical Doubles – DLL Milton Keynes
14 February - Assertive Doubles Drills – DLL Milton Keynes
06 March - Argentinean Tennis – Redbridge, Essex
10-12 April - PTR 2 – Coaching Essentials for Club Doubles & Singles Players - Brighton
08 May - Fitness, Footwork & Cardio – Windsor
1 st Week of Championships - PTR WIMBLEDON SYMPOSIUM
26-27 July - Situational Games and Practices - Belfast
30-31 July - Situational Games and Practices - York
6 August - Error Diagnosis - Windsor
20-22 August - PTR2– Coaching Essentials for Club Doubles & Singles Players – Milton Keynes
11 September - Specialist Strokes from the Game – Aldersbrook, East London
22 October - Squad Coaching – Enfield, North London
12 November - Fitness, Footwork & Cardio - Birmingham
10-12 December - PTR2 – Coaching Essentials for Club Doubles & Singles Players - Heston
17 December - Coaches Forum, Tournament and Christmas Lunch – Brentwood, Essex
More courses for SW England and Scotland to be added soon
Please note that course will not run if lack of attendees, Course Locations may be liable to change.

Are we selling ourselves enough on individual lessons?
Andy Dowsett
As coaches many of us are indoctrinated to give one hour lessons, however, should this be the case?
Courses and workshops are great but over the years I have found conversations with like minded coaches have
yielded much more information and ideas to act upon.
This article is a culmination of one such conversation and I hope you can learn much from it!
Week in week out we have our one hour (generally technical or tactical) lesson with our students; our goal is to have
them start a journey where there really is no end. I have found once the bug has taken and the student is improving
weekly then the doors to many lessons open up.
People come to lessons for all number of reasons of which I have added below...
They truly wish to become the best player they can
For fitness and to work out
To work on tennis psychology
To improve their match play in tournaments and leagues
To fit in socially with the group they are also attending
Purely to hit with ‘you’ or play matches against ‘you’
Workout why your student really comes to lessons and see ‘what else’ you can give them! This means getting to
know them a little more than just turning up week in week out for a lesson, what motivates them and where do they
wish to end up?
How can you give your student more in a 90 minute lesson?
For the player who wants to work out as they find gym work laborious then there are a number of on court practices
that you can utilise from medicine ball work to fit ball work to band work. Many courses will educate you in this way
like the well established Etcheberry Experience workshop.
Perhaps many of your students require that little more match play so an extra 30 minutes after the main lesson will
be perfect. This could be general match play to pressure point tennis scenarios.
Perhaps movement maybe a big issue and that extra 30 minutes practice in footwork training will be the key to
taking your student to the next level.
One of the best sessions that worked were the U3 and me lessons. Whilst one student trained individually for 30
minutes the remaining two committed to training on the next court. This three way rotation ended in 90 minutes of
great work. From here you get to work on great doubles drills or 3 way drills.
Sometimes you have to think outside the realms of what you have been taught or already know!
Tennis Club
Programmes

Phil Vivian
How developed are the tennis programmes at clubs in the UK?
As a tennis coach do you prepare your club programme to include both the coaching side and the playing
perspective at your tennis club?
Does your club dictate what you can do with regards coaching and whether or not there is a direct link to the
playing programme at the club?
It is essential for coaches to ensure that there is a continuous link between player development and a pathway to
playing socially or for the teams at your clubs.
You must prepare your tennis club programme to deliver tennis to all ages and levels of player, understanding that
although you may wish to work with strong dedicated players with potential, you have to include the players who
are playing tennis just for fun with no expectation of entering tournaments or playing on teams.
You must ensure you are fully inclusive of every requirement from your club members, EVERYBODY is IMPORTANT.
As a professional coach of over 30 years in club coaching, and a regular tutor for the PTR, I am happy to assist you in
preparing a suitable coach & play programme for your club or venue, all you have to do is ask.
All I need you to do is contact me through the PTR office and we can discuss what you already have in place plus
what we together think you may need to progress your programme.
It is important especially in these times of austerity that you have a full and rounded programme that caters for
families as well. We are competing against other activities and tight budgets too. So pricing is a major factor in your
delivery of tennis to the public.
There is a basic template for every tennis club to follow, for instance in the junior programme you need varying age
categories in place both after school and at weekends, plus some school links.
The adult programme needs a beginner/improver section plus tennis for the club level player and team training for
the more advanced players.
But it is a good selling point if your club has other aspects to its programme that sets it apart from other clubs, and
this is where I am sure we can help you at the PTR.
PTR wishes you a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year