# @mytenniscoaching on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DbosblTgwAA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68734232-mytenniscoaching-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4fe6e56290.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-04T23:00:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Steve Whelan | International Tennis Coach Developer (@mytenniscoaching) — https://gondola.cc/mytenniscoaching

## Caption

Conversation #17 

A coach who is constantly talking may look effective, while quietly denying players the space to learn.

Some of the most effective coaches are often the quietest.

Tennis coaching has created an assumption that good coaches must always be visibly active:

Constantly talking.
Demonstrating.
Correcting.
Providing feedback.
Stopping the practice.

But being busy is not the same as being effective.

Any coach can fill a session with instructions and coaching buzzwords. The greater skill is knowing what to observe, when to intervene and when to allow the player another opportunity to adapt.

When feedback arrives immediately after every mistake, the player has little time to detect what happened, evaluate the outcome or adjust their next action.

The coach does the reflection for them.

Silence does not mean the coach is disengaged. A quiet coach may be closely observing:

What information the player is using.
What movement solutions are emerging.
Whether the player adapts across attempts.
When guidance could genuinely support learning.

Effective coaching is not measured by how many interventions you make.

It is measured by whether your intervention helps the player become less dependent on you.

Here is my challenge for your next lesson:

When you feel the urge to intervene, wait.

Give the player two more attempts and observe whether they detect and adjust the problem themselves.

You might discover that the player didn’t need another instruction.

They needed time.

Could you coach an entire session while saying 50% less?

The conversation, as always, continues tomorrow.

## Stats

- **Views:** 1,185
- **Likes:** 17
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

17

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