ITF Monthly E-mail Newsletter for Coaches, Year 12, Issue 2, February 2011 

International Tennis Federation Tennis Development Department

ITF Monthly E-Mail Newsletter for Coaches, Year 12, Issue 2, February 2011

The ITF Development / Coaching Department is pleased to welcome you to the February edition of its ITF Monthly E-mail Newsletter.

If you are experiencing difficulty viewing this newsletter as an email, you can view it as a web page.

In an effort to keep you informed and updated on ITF coaching matters worldwide, in this issue of the newsletter you will find

• Upcoming coaching courses in Sri Lanka and China
• Coaching & Sport Science Review- Latest Issue available online
• Completed courses and events in Korea and Valencia.
• A new initiative to increase global access to iCoach
• Other announcements

UPCOMING COACHING COURSES AND EVENTS

8-19 February 2011
ITF Level 2 Coaches Course, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Asia

14-26 March 2011
ITF Level 3 Coaches Course, Beijing, China, Asia

COACHING & SPORT SCIENCE REVIEW- ISSUE 52

The latest issue of the ITF Coaching & Sport Science Review is available to view online, and contains a range of articles on Tennis 10s, psychology, flexibility, physical conditioning, match evaluation, measurement tools for parental involvement, as well as articles on blind tennis and tennis within the Olympic Games.

In addition to the available articles, the latest book recommendations will guide coaches to high quality texts to improve their coaching, knowledge and welfare. Click on the image to view Issue 52 now.

Previous issues of the ITF CSSR are available at www.itftennis.com/coaching

COMPLETED COURSES & EVENTS

Level 1 coaches course in Gimcheon, Korea (8- 15 January)

Korea Tennis Association's (KTA) bold initiative to reform coaches' education continues to move at a rapid pace. The KTA organized the first ever course for coaching beginner/intermediate players in September 2010. The KTA in conjunction with ITF has organized its second Coaching Beginner & Intermediate Players Course within a span of 6 months. Despite the unusual subzero temperatures, a total of 18 coaches participated in the course which was conducted by the ITF expert and Development Officer for Asia. The Coaching Beginner & Intermediate Players Course,conducted from the 8-15 January 2011, included the participation of some of the most experienced coaches from elementary, middle and high schools. The course participants also included former top players of Korea such as Shin Han Cheol, Sohn Seung-Ri and Ha Ji Sun. In order to take ownership of future coaches' education program, the KTA organized a tutor's course prior to the coaches'course. Suresh Menon conducted the course with Korean tutors Han Min Kyu, Lee Jeong Myung, Lee and Jung Sok

The course was organized in the Gimcheon, a scenic, picturesque city 4 hours by car from Seoul. The course was supported by the city officials who offered their modern tennis facility consisting of 4 indoor courts and 18 outdoor located in a sport hub.

The participants spend nine days trying to master all aspects of beginner/intermediate tennis which includes such topics technique, tactics, psychology, fitness training, coaching diagnosis and correction, communication, etc. The Korean Tennis Federation ensured that all the course material was translated into Korean and 2 translators were present throughout the course.

Suresh Menon commented, "The first course was well received and a success. The program has acted as a catalyst and Korean coaches now see the importance of coaches' education. After participating in the first course, 8 coaches attended the Asian Coaches Conference in Subic, Philippines, a first for Korean coaches. Language was always seen to be the barrier but Korean coaches are now getting past that in the pursuit to update themselves."

Joon Ho Rhee, Vice President of Player Development and Coaching for KTA was pleased with the response to the second Coaching Beginner & Intermediate Players Course in Korea. He made the following comments regarding the course, "Plans are already underway to organize a third course to be conducted by the local tutors. The KTA is also planning to organize an advanced coach's course at the end of the year and also identify coaches that will participate in the ITF World-Wide coaches' conference. "

OS/ITF scholarship coaches complete Level 3 in Valencia (October- December 2010)

Seven coaches representing Cuba, Zimbabwe, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya and Indonesia recently took part in the Olympic Solidarity Level III scholarship programme, held in Valencia, Spain throughout October and November 2010. The seven coaches went through six weeks of intense on court training and supervision, as well as study, examination and exposure to coaching resources at the ITF office in Valencia. The on court training and mentoring took place at Tennis Val academy based on the outskirts of Valencia city. Tennis Val is the current training base for David Ferrer and Igor Andreev, and has developed two former world number 1s, Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. When not on court, coaches were guided by Miguel Crespo, the ITF research officer, through advanced modules on biomechanics, psychology, physical conditioning, teaching methodology and tactics.

In addition to the course syllabus, a unique benefit for the coaches on this scholarship programme was the chance to visit and tour the premier academies across Spain. The coaches received talks on high performance player development and programme management from a number of experts, including Spanish Fed Cup captain, Miguel Margets, Francis Roche, Nadals traveling coach, as well as from the director of coach education for the RFET, David Sanz. The coaches visited the High Performance Tennis Centre in Madrid, Ferrero Equilite Academy, Barcelona Total Tennis Academy (BTT), Sanchez-Casal, Bruguera Tennis Academy, and the Centre for High Performance Development (CAR) in Barcelona.

During the course, the coaches also had the opportunity to attend a technical course conducted by the RFET, as well as attend the ATP 500 event, held in the city of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.

The six weeks proved difficult but successful, with six of the seven coaches passing the course successfully. The ITF would like to take this opportunity to thank Olympic Solidarity for their continual support with the scholarship programme, and to commend the participants for their hard work, dedication and enthusiasm throughout.

Korean trip to Spain sees Hyung-Taik Lee visit the ITF in Valencia (14th January)

Ex world number 36 and Korean tennis legend, Hyung- Taik Lee, visited the ITF in Valencia to discuss and exchange ideas, information and materials in January on behalf of the high performance academy in Kangwondo, Korea.

Hyung-Taik Lee turned pro in 1995 and defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero to take his first title at the ATP event in Sydney, in 2007. Lee is also known for defeating Andy Murray in the third round of the US Open in 2007. The former No. 1 Asian player has a 49-20 career record in Davis Cup (39-8 in singles) in 28 ties since 1995. He also has the most Davis Cup match wins in his country's history and has participated in 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney (doubles) and 2004 Athens Olympics. Lee has now turned his experience to coaching within Korea, to develop juniors to compete at the highest level on the tour. This January, as president of the Lee Hyung Taik Tennis Academy Foundation, alongside Hye-Jung Kim, the general manager at the academy- the pair made a visit to Valencia, meeting with Miguel Crespo and Merlin Van de Braam at the ITF office in Valencia.

The trip was a valuable opportunity to create good links within this high performance centre in Korea, and also for the directors of the academy to acquire valuable coach education materials and ITF publications.

OTHER ITF ANNOUNCEMENTS

2011 WORLD WIDE COACHES CONFERENCE- PORT GHALIB, EGYPT

As announced last month, the next Worldwide Coaches Conference will be held in Port Ghalib, Egypt. Port Ghalib Red Sea Resort and International Convention Centre is a state-of-the-art complex situated on the Red Sea. The arrival day is confirmed for November 19th (Saturday). The Workshop dates are scheduled as November 20th to November 24th (5 days) and the departure day is set for November 25th (Friday).  Over the next few months, you will be kept up to date on any relevant information related to the conference, travel to the event, as well as package costs.

ITF LAUNCH NEW iCOACH PRICING SYSTEM FOR NATIONS

The ITF in an initiative to increase the worldwide impact of the Tennis iCoach, have invited nations to join based on their voting strength according to the ITF constitution. Once a nation joins the iCoach scheme, the governing body are granted to give access to all coaches in their country.  With this proposed initiative, the ITF believe that there is more chance to increase the number of coaches accessing this great information and also to provide a better service to nations and coaches worldwide. We hope that the new pricing system will encourage and incentivise the nations to maximise the numbers of coaches and so better achieve our primary objective of more coaches accessing the information on the Tennis iCoach website.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Coaching Symposium-Lakeville, Conneticut (24-26 June)

A 2.5 day program designed to give coaches cutting edge information on training, nutrition, psychology, motivation, and planning that will bring their teams to a higher level. For coaches of high performance athletes in all sports. The symposium will be held at HotchkissSchool, Lakeville, CT, EUA on the 24 to 26 June 2011.

The presentations are based on the following themes:
Nutrition for high performance athletes
Planning training
High Performance Training
Mental preparation for coaches and athletes
How experts become become and improve expertise.

Congreso de Entrenadores- Lakeville, Conneticut

Para entrenadores de atletas de alto rendimiento de cualquier deporte. Lugar y Fecha: HotchkissSchool, Lakeville, CT, EUA; Junio 24 al 26, 2011. Objetivo: Ayudar a los entrenadores a desarrollar el potencial atlético de sus pupilos.

Las presentaciones se basarán en los siguientes temas:
• Nutrición para atletas de alto rendimiento.
• Planeación de los entrenamientos
• Entrenamiento de alto rendimiento.
• Preparación mental para entrenadores y atletas.
• Como los expertos se vuelven expertos.

Expertos:
Rickard Nillson: Acondicionador Físico del Comité Olímpico Sueco por más de 10 años. Competidor en 2 Olimpiadas (Levantamiento de pesas).
Cornelia Cannon Holden: Fundadora de "TheMindfulWarrior" Una compañía dedicada a enseñar a atletas de alto rendimiento, entrenadores y equipos los principios de alto rendimiento. Trabajó 3 años con el Equipo Nacional Femenino de Hockey.
K. Anders Ericksson: Líder mundial como investigador en el área de alto rendimiento humano.
Jenny Potter: Hockey sobre hielo. 4 Olimpiadas, 8 Campeonatos Mundiales, 4 Medallas Olímpicas y 3 Campeonatos Mundiales.

For more information: info@summerinstituteforsport.com