# @mytenniscoaching on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcFBN9mg-uF
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69372506-mytenniscoaching-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8063df22e2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-15T23:00:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Steve Whelan | International Tennis Coach Developer (@mytenniscoaching) — https://gondola.cc/mytenniscoaching

## Caption

Conversation 28/43 

Every constraint solves one problem while potentially creating another.

Imagine allowing players to hit into the tramlines.

This widens the available court space and may encourage players to stretch their opponent, create sharper angles and move them away from the centre.

That could be extremely useful—especially for players who repeatedly hit through the middle of the court.

But the constraint also changes what players search for.

If the tramlines become the focus, players may become less sensitive to opportunities to:

Jam the opponent through the body.
Move forward and take control at the net.
Use a drop shot.
Attack a different space.
Select a more functional solution for that moment.

The practice may successfully amplify one behaviour while unintentionally suppressing others.

This does not make the constraint ineffective.

It means there is no perfect practice design.

Every change to the environment directs the player’s attention towards certain information and opportunities—and away from others.

That is why ecological coaching requires more than adding creative rules, targets or court markings.

The coach must understand:

Intention: What is the player trying to achieve?

Attention: What information are they using to regulate their actions?

Behaviour: What possibilities is the practice amplifying or suppressing?

Don’t judge a constraint simply by whether it changes behaviour.

Ask whether the behaviour is functional—and what other opportunities may have disappeared in the process.

Every constraint has a trade-off. Great coaches learn to see both sides of it.

The conversation continues tomorrow.

Follow mytenniscoaching for evidence-based coach education.

#TennisCoaching #CoachEducation #EcologicalDynamics #ConstraintsLedApproach SkillAcquisition

## Stats

- **Views:** 1,331
- **Likes:** 19
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- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

constraintsledapproach, ecologicaldynamics, coacheducation, tenniscoaching

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