# @mytenniscoaching on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Db1kZesgl2V
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69004405-mytenniscoaching-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/88b8b40ab0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-09T23:00:05.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Steve Whelan | International Tennis Coach Developer (@mytenniscoaching) — https://gondola.cc/mytenniscoaching

## Caption

Conversation 22/43

Just adding an opponent and playing points does not automatically make a practice representative.

Coaches often assume that once an activity “looks like tennis,” skill will transfer into competition.

But Representative Learning Design is not simply about how much a practice visually resembles the game.

It is about whether the practice preserves the functional information, intentions and decisions that regulate performance.

Consider these common constraints:

“Rally four shots before the point becomes live.”

“Hit two crosscourt, then one down the line.”

“Only hit inside this area.”

These rules may create organisation, but they can also remove the decisions we supposedly want players to develop.

If a player is only permitted to hit crosscourt, they no longer need to detect whether the down-the-line opportunity is available.

The coach has already made the decision for them.

The practice might contain an opponent, a court and a score—but the player is responding to the coach’s rules rather than adapting to the opportunities emerging within the game.

Constraints are not inherently good or bad.

The question is what they invite players to perceive, decide and do.

Practice does not become representative because it looks like tennis. It becomes representative when players must use relevant information to regulate their actions—just as they must in competition.

Before adding another rule, ask:

Am I amplifying useful information—or removing the decision entirely?

The conversation continues tomorrow.

Follow mytenniscoaching for evidence-based coach education.

#TennisCoaching #CoachEducation #RepresentativeLearningDesign #SkillAcquisition #EcologicalDynamics

## Stats

- **Views:** 2,085
- **Likes:** 22
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- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

ecologicaldynamics, coacheducation, representativelearningdesign, tenniscoaching, skillacquisition

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