Can Parents Be Effective Tennis Coaches?

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My Daddy My Coach - tennis lessons for parents and coaches

When I decided to teach tennis to my children, it was likely one of the most exciting and “scary” choices I’d ever made.

I wanted to introduce them to a sport they might love and enjoy for the rest of their lives.

It all began when my wife and I realized that no one would ever be as passionate about teaching our children as we, the parents, would be.

At that time, I had been a tennis player for many years and a newly certified, enthusiastic coach. I began taking my two daughters, then aged 4 and 5 respectively, onto the court to show them some fun hand-eye coordination tennis drills that kids seem to love.

In the beginning, it was all about fun games: hitting the (sponge) ball over the net and counting how many times they could do it, catching and throwing, chasing each other around the court – everything to make them excited and happy to get back on the court the next day. 

Technique didn’t matter. As long as they enjoyed being on the court with me and hitting balls, it was all good.

My goal was to get them to enjoy tennis or at least the idea of hitting a ball with a racquet. I did accomplish that: my daughters were happy and had fun chasing the balls.

But the coach in me wanted to see them begin working on proper technique and view tennis as a game that requires a specific way to hit the ball, learn how to play points, and eventually develop a competitive spirit while improving their new skills.

That’s why I decided to get my two daughters involved in group lessons so they could see other kids playing and enjoying tennis. They would eventually learn by observing the kids around them focusing and practicing proper technique and footwork.

It was a great idea that helped me transition them towards hitting the ball with a focus on the technical elements.

As a result, my daughters realized (by observing other kids in their group classes) that striking the ball should be done in a certain way, and that technique and footwork were important.

Eventually, as I began working with my daughters on the mechanics and incorporating fun competitive games, another good idea came to mind:

I decided to share our lessons with parents and tennis coaches who would also be interested in teaching their children and learning how to do it following a well-organized method. 

This is how the My Daddy / My Coach video series was born.

I wanted to show all interested coaches and tennis parents how I introduced my daughters to tennis, from ages 5-6 until their competitive junior years, 12-13. 

In this program, I share the technical aspects I taught my daughters, the games and drills we played, and any other tips that my experience as a coach at the time allowed me to teach not only my children but also anyone who wanted to learn as well.

Now, my two daughters are teenagers and, in addition to their love for tennis, they enjoy other sports as well.

But my greatest personal achievement was introducing and teaching my children a sport that I know they will appreciate for the rest of their lives.

And they will tell everyone that “my daddy was also my tennis coach”.

If you want to learn how to introduce your children to a sport of their lifetime, the My Daddy / My Coach video series presents 47 live tennis lessons (each between 45-65 minutes long) which you can use as a guide in teaching your children.

This series is dedicated to coaches and tennis parents.

Enjoy teaching tennis!

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Why I Decided to Teach My Daughters Tennis

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Do you consider that every tennis coach has a duty to introduce their children to tennis? Even if only to teach them the basics so they can enjoy it later with their friends?

These were questions I was asking myself as my baby daughters were turning 4 and 5 years old. 

Many days and nights had I thought about it: what if they didn’t like tennis? Is there a social expectation from a tennis coach to have his children pick up the sport he likes so much? 

I was young and did not have answers to those questions…

One of the biggest thoughts that I could not shake off was the one that eventually made me decide to take this step and introduce my daughters to tennis:

“Would I forgive myself after 20-30 years if I did not teach them to play tennis?”

No, I would not. 

And this is how I got my daughters started with this sport. 

There is more to this story, but I have to keep it short – 

My daughters began with group classes so they could see other kids enjoying tennis, and only after they got a taste of this sport, they asked me to be their coach. 

It was not easy because my daughters have strong personalities. And they “knew better than me” how to hit the ball and would not accept anybody telling them how to do it. 

Even though their father was a tennis coach…
They knew tennis better than I. 🙂

Teaching your kids is not an easy task, but it would give a parent great satisfaction seeing them grow in the sport, become competitive, and learn to work hard to develop their skills… not to mention the hours you spend with them on the court is just… priceless.

So yes, I did manage to teach my two daughters to play tennis and we did this process together for 9 years. 

Best part?

Occasionally, my wife would record some of their lessons. 

If you want to see how I did it, and learn the techniques, the games, and the ways I interacted with my daughters on the tennis court, you can watch the whole 9-year process in this WebTennis24 section called My Daddy / My Coach.

Was it easy, or was it hard? 

It does not matter. 

The time I spent with them on the court during all those years is just precious. 

If you are teaching your children or intend to do it soon, I am here for you. 

I’ve done it, so I know what you will be going through. 

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

The No. 1 Reason Children QUIT Tennis

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(This article is intended for coaches and tennis parents who teach children or beginning players. If you are not interested in this topic, please share it with a coach or tennis parent who might find it useful. Thank you!)

The year was 2004 when I got a job working as an assistant tennis coach for a city program in Southern California.
The pay was very low but I considered it an opportunity for me to learn and grow as a tennis coach.
At that time I was in my 20s, barely spoke English, and I was trying to learn as much as I could to improve my teaching skills.

The “city” was organizing beginner classes and my boss and I were greeting these big crowds of enthusiastic kids who were coming with their parents to learn how to play tennis.
My boss, at that time, was an elderly lady who was kind to the kids but did not have too much knowledge about helping beginning players fall in love with the sport.
She would stress discipline and technique way too much to the point that most players were staying in lines waiting for their turn to hit a ball… once in a while.

As a result, we could see that even though those parents were paying for the lessons 6 weeks in advance, many children quit their classes after the first couple of lessons.
By the end of the 6-week session, we were left with barely 30% of the kids who initially signed up for the classes!

Those 2 years that I’d been working for the “city” taught me a VALUABLE lesson:

PEOPLE PLAY TENNIS BECAUSE THEY ENJOY IT.

And they quit if they don’t.

It’s just that simple…

Now, I have to say that during those 2 years of working for the “city” I did not let things continue as they initially were.

Here’s what I did:

  1. I talked to my boss and convinced her to “rotate” the children so that they learn from both of us (with respect to the other’s teaching methodology). In this way, the kids would get to learn and improve with tips from both of us.
  2. We agreed that we should find ways to limit waiting in line by introducing fast-paced drills.
  3. The technical aspects were discussed and practiced at the beginning and reminded throughout the lessons to make sure that while we were teaching those who struggled, we kept the others busy so that nobody was left wandering on the court.
  4. Every lesson should have at least two periods of fun activities that kids would enjoy:
    – one in the middle of the class to take their minds away from the technical and repetitive tasks, and also to bring some excitement after all the previous work;
    – another one at the end of the class (last 10 minutes) to allow the kids to leave their classes happy and “loud” so that they have something to look forward to after all the work they put in during the class; their parents would see that kids were having fun at tennis practice before picking them up.

This statement has been my motto for the rest of my tennis teaching career:

MAKE TENNIS LESSONS FUN AND KIDS WILL KEEP COMING TO PRACTICE.

You might be wondering how can you find drills and games that keep kids interested and excited about practicing their skills.
Well, there are two main ways:

  1. You can search YouTube or the internet and eventually you’ll make a list of drills and games that you can apply with your students. But that takes a lot of your time which you probably would be the best spending with your family or working on more exciting projects.
  2. You can sign up for programs such as Best Tennis Drills and Games for Kids which is a collection of drills that I’ve applied with my students during my over 20 years of teaching thousands of beginning tennis players, kids and adults.

I’ve learned what works and what not, what gets beginning players excited, and what kind of drills improve their speed, body control, shot accuracy, and consistency.

You can do your own research or just keep things simple and take what others have worked for and know it works.

This is why I created this program for you – to take my proven drills and games that are guaranteed to be loved by your beginning players.

Get access to Best Tennis Drills and Games for Kids today and make tennis lessons fun for your beginning students.

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

Avoid THIS if You Want to Teach Tennis to Your Child

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teaching kids tennis

When I decided to teach my (then) 4, respectively 5-year-old daughters how to play tennis I was both excited and terrified at the same time.

I had already enough experience playing and teaching tennis for almost 30 years, but putting all my knowledge on the line to help my two daughters fall in love with the sport was a major job for me.

As a tennis coach, you can encounter a lot of pressure when it comes to teaching your own children.

Despite that, after a serious discussion with my wife, we have decided that nobody would ever put more passion into teaching our daughters as much as I would as a parent and tennis coach.

BUT… there was one step that had to be carefully planned:

How to make my kids take me seriously as a coach and change their perception toward me from the “fun daddy” to… “coach daddy”?

Up to that point, I was the daddy who was coming home and they would jump on his back, go for bike rides, go to the beach, read with them, and have fun.

That was all good in the beginning when we began to transfer those fun activities onto the tennis court, but at some point we had to ease into the technical aspects of the tennis strokes and learn that tennis requires some serious moments when repetition and certain focused activities are not as entertaining as the games my daughters were used to playing with me.

Something had to be done. Something that would get my daughters to ask me to teach them how to play tennis and allow me to introduce them to the mechanical aspects of tennis strokes and footwork.

After careful analysis and long discussions with my wife, we both agreed that the best solution to have our daughters be willing to learn tennis from me would be to enroll them into group classes under the guidance of another tennis coach.

Why?​

We figured that by being enrolled in group classes, our two daughters would see other children playing and enjoying tennis.
They will see other children learning, executing the strokes technique, and paying attention to a coach’s instructions.

My daughters, in this way, got introduced to tennis by joining other children of their age and observing how others behave in a tennis class.

That was a turning point! ​

My daughters, soon, decided to allow me to teach them not only the technical aspects, but they wanted to excel by practicing more only to get better and eventually participate in competitions.

Conclusion:​

If you are a tennis parent, don’t try to teach your children yourself… in the beginning!
Allow them to learn by participating and observing other kids of their age, first.
Only after they get introduced to tennis together with other children will they be more open to learning and working hard… just like they saw other kids doing.

If you want to learn a step-by-step method and see how I taught my two daughters to play tennis from the ages of 5, respectively 6, up to junior years, check out the My Daddy / My Coach video series.
You’ll see live and full tennis lessons (each about 45-65 minutes) in which I share all my tennis knowledge in teaching my daughters how to play and fall in love with the sport.

Have fun teaching tennis to your children! 🙂

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.

How to Teach Tennis to VERY Young Children (3-5 Years Old)

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As a tennis coach, I am often asked how to teach the sport to very young children, specifically those aged 3-5 years old. In this article, I would like to share some tips and techniques that have worked well for me in the past.

Consider the child’s prior experience
First, it is important to consider whether the child has had any prior experience with tennis. If they have, find out whether they have taken private or group lessons. If they are new to the sport, focus on hand-eye coordination exercises and basic techniques.

Introduce games and drills
There are plenty of fun games and drills you can use to keep young children engaged, such as “Throw and Catch,” “Jail Breaker,” “Caterpillar,” and “Potato Race.” Remember, the aim is to keep the lessons fun and active, so try to avoid making them stay in line for too long. Kids of this age group tend to get bored easily, so keep them moving and engaged as much as possible.

Make it fun
In a group setting, when working with children individually, give tasks to the others, such as picking up balls, jumping rope, or bouncing a ball, to keep everybody active. Try to make this fun, too, by turning it into a competition to see who can make the biggest pile of balls on their racket, for example.

Keep the lessons short and intense
For children under 6 years old, I recommend no longer than 45 minutes per lesson, and for 3-4-year-olds, even shorter, around 30 minutes. This ensures they don’t get too tired or exhausted, and they are able to retain what they have learned.

In conclusion, teaching tennis to very young children can be a lot of fun if approached in the right way.

Keep the lessons fun, active, and engaging, and focus on basic techniques and hand-eye coordination exercises. With a little patience and creativity, you will be amazed at how quickly they can pick up the sport!

If you want to learn how to teach tennis to young children consider the following WebTennis24 coaching courses:

Cosmin Miholca

Cosmin Miholca

Certified Tennis Coach

Check out my work at WebTennis24 where I share with you my best video tennis lessons, drills and tips for players, coaches and tennis parents.