Coaching guides for racket sports
Practical, opinionated guides on planning sessions, assessing players and building development plans, written for coaches, not software buyers.
8 min read
How to assess a squash player: a six-pillar method
Score a squash player on six pillars with anchored levels, from length and the boast-drop to movement off the T. Spot the self-assessment gap, then set goals.
Read8 min read
The six-pillar assessment framework for racket-sport coaches
A repeatable way to assess racket-sport players: six pillars, anchored 0-10 levels, player self-assessment, and an assess-goal-plan-deliver-reassess loop that drives a development plan.
Read8 min read
How to assess a pickleball player: a six-pillar method
Score a pickleball player on six pillars with anchored levels, from the dink and the third-shot drop to movement at the kitchen line. Spot the self-assessment gap, then set goals.
Read8 min read
How to run effective group and squad coaching sessions
Keep a whole group active and progressing: structure for any number, stations and rotations to kill queueing, one drill differentiated up and down, and squad work that still moves individuals.
Read8 min read
How to build a coaching drill library that gets used
Most drill collections rot in a notebook. Here is how to organise drills by skill and assessment pillar, write them so any coach can run them, and keep the library living.
Read8 min read
How to reduce drop-out and keep juniors in the sport
The real reasons young players quit, from invisible progress to wrong-pitched challenge to no sense of belonging, and what a coach can actually do about each.
Read8 min read
How to onboard players and parents into a coaching programme
A practical first-week setup for racket coaches: invite players and parents, decide what each person sees, set expectations early, and get consents in place from the start.
Read8 min read
How to assess a padel player: a six-pillar method
Score a padel player on six pillars with anchored levels, from wall play and the bandeja to court positioning as a pair. Spot the self-assessment gap, then set goals.
Read8 min read
How to assess a tennis player: a six-pillar method
A repeatable six-pillar tennis assessment with anchored 0-10 levels so two coaches agree, plus player self-assessment and turning the weakest pillar into a goal.
Read7 min read
Squad selection criteria: a fair Red/Amber/Green review
How to run fair, objective squad selection on a talent pathway: criteria tied to assessment not gut feel, a RAG review, and kind retain/nominate/release decisions.
Read7 min read
How to run an effective 1-2-1 coaching session
Make a private lesson worth the price: one clear objective from the player's plan, the right feed-to-play ratio, sharp cueing, homework, and proof of progress.
Read7 min read
Measuring player progress over a season
Move past 'they seem better'. Set a baseline, pick leading and lagging indicators, reassess on a cadence, and show then-vs-now progress that motivates.
Read8 min read
Periodisation for junior athletes: a coach's guide
Periodisation made practical for grassroots racket coaches: macro, meso and micro cycles, blocks, load, peaking for key events and avoiding junior burnout.
Read7 min read
Communicating with parents as a coach: a practical guide
How to set boundaries, share progress and turn parents into allies in junior racket coaching: what to share, how often, and how to handle hard conversations.
Read7 min read
Mental skills for young athletes: a coach's guide
Practical mental skills for junior racket players: reset routines, focus cues, responding to errors, pre-serve routines and building confidence. No clinical claims.
Read8 min read
Annual training plan for junior racket players
Map a junior season into preparation, competition and transition phases, balance technical, tactical and physical work, and work around school terms and exams.
Read6 min read
A warm-up routine for racket sports (RAMP, 10 min)
A reusable RAMP-style warm-up for badminton, tennis and padel: raise, activate, mobilise, potentiate. A copyable 10-minute routine and the mistakes to avoid.
Read7 min read
Goal setting for young athletes: a coach's guide
Why outcome-only goals demotivate juniors, how to derive controllable process goals from a player's weakest pillar, and how to review and adjust them.
Read7 min read
Player development plan template (PDP) for racket coaches
What a player development plan is, what goes in it, and a copyable PDP template you can lift today. Plus how reassessment closes the loop.
Read8 min read
How to assess a badminton player (a six-pillar framework)
A repeatable way to assess a badminton player: six pillars, anchored levels so two coaches agree, self-assessment to surface the perception gap, and goals drawn from the weakest area.
Read7 min read
How to write a coaching session plan (with a template)
A practical, repeatable structure for racket-sport session plans: objective, warm-up, technical and tactical blocks, game, review. Plus how to ladder sessions into a season.
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