# @mytenniscoaching on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcgYK3oDmcX
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69678445-mytenniscoaching-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7f47ddfc0a.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-26T14:00:05.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Steve Whelan | International Tennis Coach Developer (@mytenniscoaching) — https://gondola.cc/mytenniscoaching

## Caption

Ecological coaches do not believe every activity must look exactly like a tennis match.

That criticism confuses representation with replication.

Representative practice is not judged by visual similarity alone. It asks whether players can use relevant information to regulate their actions in ways connected to the intended performance environment.

It is also relative to:

The player.

The problem being developed.

The performance environment being prepared for.

A red-stage beginner does not need the same practice environment as a professional player.

The court can be smaller.

The ball can be slower.

The racket can be shorter.

The rules, scoring and available time can all be adapted.

Those constraints may change while the practice still retains an opponent, a live ball, meaningful choices and consequences.

In fact, a full-court drill can look exactly like tennis while being poorly representative if the coach predetermines every shot, movement and decision.

Not every activity in a session needs to represent match play. Physical preparation, recovery or a warm-up may have a different purpose.

But if the purpose is to develop adaptable tennis skill, we should examine whether the practice preserves the information and actions that matter.

The question is not:

“How closely does this look like professional tennis?”

It is:

“Does this player have the information needed to solve this particular tennis problem?”

Representative practice is relative—not a replica.

Follow mytenniscoaching for evidence-based conversations about ecological dynamics, skill acquisition and tennis-coach development.

Reference

Pinder, R. A., Davids, K., Renshaw, I., & Araújo, D. (2011). Representative learning design and functionality of research and practice in sport. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 33(1), 146–155. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.33.1.146

#EcologicalDynamics #TennisCoaching #SkillAcquisition #RepresentativeLearningDesign

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## Tags

skillacquisition, ecologicaldynamics, representativelearningdesign, tenniscoaching

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