Become a Coach

INTRODUCTION TO COACHING IN SOUTH AFRICA

The Tennis South Africa Coaches Education Training Programme is based on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Play Tennis, Coaching Beginner & Intermediate Players and The Coaching Advanced Players courses syllabi and tutor contact hours. It is also aligned to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC)

Currently there are 5 levels:

  1. Tennis Volunteer Course (16 hours)
  2. Play Tennis Course (32 hours)
  3. Level 1 National Tennis Instructor (80 hours)
  4. Level 2 Advanced Tennis Instructor (80 hours)
  5. Level 3 Professional Tennis Coach (80 hours)

Full details are these courses and requirements to participate are set out below.

1. TENNIS VOLUNTEER COURSE

This course is aimed at the tennis volunteer/assistant and/or teachers assigned to do tennis at school. It is also a requirement for candidates who wish to do the Play Tennis Course and where there is doubt as to their readiness (playing ability) of a candidate to successfully undertake the Play Tennis Course.

This is an attendance course and does not qualify the candidate to coach tennis for financial gain.

Important resources (click on links to view and or print):

 2. PLAY TENNIS COURSE

Play and Stay is a global campaign that seeks to grow participation worldwide by promoting tennis as easy, fun and healthy. Central to the campaign is getting players to serve, rally and score (play the game) from the first lesson, by using slower red, orange and green balls on smaller courts.For further information on this campaign, please visit: www.tennisplayandstay.com The Play Tennis Course is one component of the Tennis…Play and Stay campaign and aims to provide coaches with ideas on how to work effectively with starter players of all ages using a game-based approach. It covers areas including:

-  Introduction of starter players to tennis in a stimulating and simple way.

-  Use of the slower balls and smaller courts to allow players to serve, rally and score from the first lesson.

-  Effective communication and organisation.

-  Short, suitable competition formats.

The Play Tennis Course is a 4-day (32 hour) course directed at tennis volunteers, coaches, school teachers, sport leaders, officials, etc, who are interested in delivering tennis to starter players. 

Important documents (double click on documents to view and or print):

 3. LEVEL 1 NATIONAL TENNIS INSTRUCTOR

Introduction

The National Level 1 Instructor Coaching Course is a 12 day course.

Participants are usually prospective tennis coaches or officials. Candidates must be able to demonstrate a minimum level of play (e.g. ability to rally / demonstrate basic strokes / feed balls to student) and undertake several exams including an individual lesson test, a group lesson test, a tennis playing / demonstration test and a written theory test.

Important documents (click on links to view and or print):

 Competencies

The Level 1 National Instructor Coaching is competency based. This implies that the organisation and delivery of coach training and educational programmes is based around competencies which are established for the professional area of tennis coaching and the different standard occupations of the tennis coach (coach of beginner, intermediate, advanced and professional players).

Competencies can be defined as the combination of skills (application of experience and knowledge - how to do the job), knowledge (facts, feelings or experiences known by the coach - what to do in the job) and attitudes (interpersonal features - what the coach is) the coach has to possess to do the job according to the needs of the market and the customers, and the standard performance required in the employment.

These competencies are precisely defined and are based on the activities the coaches have to perform (i.e. training, competition, management and organisation) and the tasks undertaken within each activity (i.e. plan, organise, conduct and evaluate).

This course is structured in units of competence, with each unit consisting of learning outcomes that have a set of performance criteria on which coaches are assessed (i.e. required to provide evidence to demonstrate competence) using an integrated system. Current competence of the coach is recognised if valid, sufficient, consistent, current, and authentic evidence is provided.

Document on Competencies (click on links to view and or print):

Power Point Presentations

E-learning format: Coaches taking part in the course should study in depth the Powerpoints below before the course takes place.  A significant amount of course work has to be done by the candidate before the course starts.  During the course, the theoretical sessions will review the main contents.

Workbooks

As previously said, Level 1 National Instructor Course is competency based.  One of the components of all competency based educational programmes is the need for the candidate to complete a series of workbooks. These workbooks have been designed to assist the candidate on their journey to becoming a coach of beginner and intermediate players.

The workbooks below include a series of activities that will be covered during both the on- and off-court sessions of the course. There are also sections where the candidate can reflect on their coaching knowledge and skills and how they think they are doing at different stages of the course.

 The Workbooks (click on links to view and or print): 

Assessment

Attached is the mock exam. The main objective of this mock exam is to give the candidates an idea of the type of questions asked during the exam at the end of this course. The assessment forms used in the various assessments are also available.

The candidates should be able to work through each question using the resources given during the course. (double click on documents below to view and or print)

 4. LEVEL 2 ADVANCED INSTRUCTOR & LEVEL 3 PROFESSIONAL COACH

As stated in the Introduction, the syllabi of the TSA Level 2 Advanced Instructor and TSA Level 3 Professional Coach courses is based on the ITF Coaching Advanced Players Course (formerly known as ITF Level 2). The TSA Advanced Instructor follows the Schedule of the first 6 days of the said ITF course and the TSA Professional Coach Course follows the schedule of the remaining 5 days of the said ITF Course. The goal of the TSA Level 2 Advanced Instructor and TSA Level 3 Professional Courses is to give participants the competences to teach tennis to intermediate and advanced players involved in competition.

Topics covered in this course include: advanced biomechanics and technique, tactics, teaching methodology, physical training and applied psychology for tennis.  Participants should be of a sufficient playing standard and must have passed the TSA Level 1 Instructor or ITF Coaching Beginner & Intermediate Players Course (Level 1) or equivalent.

Throughout the twelve-day courses, candidates are continually assessed by the tutor.

Advanced Instructors undergo a written and playing ability test at the completion of the six days.

To undertake the Professional Course, a candidate must have successfully completed TSA Level 2 Advanced Instructor course. Candidates will undertake several exams including an individual lesson test, a group lesson test, a tennis playing / demonstration test and a written theory test.

Important documents (click on links to view and or print):

 Competencies

TSA Level 2 Advanced Instructor and TSA Level 3 Professional Coach courses are competency based.  This implies that the organisation and delivery of coach training and educational programmes is based around competencies which are established for the professional area of tennis coaching and the different standard occupations of the tennis coach (coach of beginner, intermediate, advanced and professional players).

Competencies can be defined as the combination of skills (application of experience and knowledge - how to do the job), knowledge (facts, feelings or experiences known by the coach - what to do in the job) and attitudes (interpersonal features - what the coach is) the coach has to possess to do the job according to the needs of the market and the customers, and the standard performance required in the employment.

These competencies are precisely defined and are based on the activities the coaches have to perform (i.e. training, competition, management and organisation) and the tasks undertaken within each activity (i.e. plan, organise, conduct and evaluate).

This course is structured in units of competence, with each unit consisting of learning outcomes that have a set of performance criteria on which coaches are assessed (i.e. required to provide evidence to demonstrate competence) using an integrated system. Current competence of the coach is recognised if valid, sufficient, consistent, current, and authentic evidence is provided.

The competencies for this course can be downloaded from the PDF document below (click on links to view and or print):

 Powerpoint Presentations

All the Powerpoint presentations used during the Courses are provided below as PDF documents and can be downloaded and should be studied in depth before the course takes place.  A significant amount of course work has to be done by the candidate before the courses start.  During the courses, the theoretical sessions will review the main contents from these resources.

 Workbooks

One of the components of all competency based educational programmes is the need for the candidates to complete a series of workbooks. These workbooks have been designed to assist the candidate on their journey to becoming a coach of advanced players.

The activities that will be covered during the course are outlined in these workbooks.  There are also sections where the candidate can reflect on their coaching knowledge and skills and how they think they are doing at

It is recommended that candidates bring these workbooks to all on- and off-court sessions and it should serve as a useful resource in completing their course assessment tasks and during their coaching career.  It is up to the course organisers to decide to what extent these workbooks should be considered a substantial part of the course.

The workbooks for this course are the PDF documents below which can be downloaded.

 Modules

The modular option is another schedule that can be used for improving candidates’ retention and success rate.

This will help candidates to practice the contents learned in between course modules, maximizing the benefit of the overall learning process.

 Mock Exam

Attached are the mock exams to give the candidates an idea of the type of questions asked during the exam at the end of the course.

Across the two courses candidates will do one written exam and one multiple choice exam. They should be able to work through each test using the resources given during the course.