A weekend of learning, innovation, and collaboration.
Wow — just wow.

What an event Coach The Coaches 2025 was this past weekend. I was fortunate enough to be invited to present, taking my place on what has to be the most impressive coaching conference court I’ve ever stepped on.

A giant screen.
Live interpreters.
A full sound and visual production crew.
And an actual ATP competition court beneath our feet.

The lineup was world-class — a collection of some of the brightest, most forward-thinking minds in tennis coaching across Europe. Every presentation blended science, practical insight, and years of lived experience.

Raising the Standard for Coach Education

This wasn’t your usual NGB workshop or CPD tick-box session.

Coach The Coaches has become the event for coaches who take learning seriously. Each session was grounded in evidence, collaboration, and shared curiosity — the exact ingredients tennis coaching needs right now.

Three clear themes echoed through the weekend:

• Perception and action — how players see, decide, and move within the game.
• Research-informed coaching — theory applied, not recited.
• Play and skill — using real game contexts to develop adaptable performers.

And yet, some of the best learning happened off the court — in the café, over dinner, and late-night at the bar.
That’s where ideas were tested, challenged, and made real.

The Speakers: Experience, Knowledge, and Innovation

Each speaker brought a unique lens to coaching — united by passion, clarity, and humility.

Ruben Neyens (Netherlands) – KNLTB

Session: Best Practices from Elite Sports
Ruben opened the event with a masterclass in simplicity. His ability to distil complex performance ideas into clear, actionable principles was unmatched. His talk reminded every coach in the room that clarity and connection matter more than technical jargon.

Michael Ebert (Austria) – Founder, tennis4kids

Session: From Orange Court to World Class
Michael’s work with young players redefines what early development should look like. His focus on creativity, small-sided games, and long-term learning — not early specialisation — reflected the essence of modern, ecological coaching.

Kevin Böttcher & Sebastian Metzger (Germany)

Session: Game-Based Approach with U12 Players
Kevin delivered one of the most practical sessions of the weekend. His central message — “Drills are just drills; it’s the why that matters” — cut through the noise. It was a reminder that true coaching isn’t about running sessions; it’s about designing meaningful environments for learning.

Steve Whelan (England) – My Tennis Coaching Limited

Session: Serving with Intention: Preparing Players for the Green Court Before They Get There
My own session explored how coaches can help players connect perception, intention, and action before they transition from orange to green court. We looked at how representative learning environments and constraints-led design prepare players to think and act under real match conditions.

Gregor Ficko (Slovenia) – GFTA Tennis & Padel Academy

Session: Exploring Skill Through Play and Chaos

Gregor brought a refreshing mix of creativity and scientific depth to the conference. His session captured the essence of ecological coaching — playful, messy, and alive with variability. Every activity had a clear purpose: to let players explore movement, perception, and decision-making in realistic contexts.

Stefan Kermas (Germany) – Train Your Business

Session: Game | Set | Lead
A double Olympic gold medalist in hockey, Stefan bridged the gap between performance and leadership. His insights on team dynamics, communication, and high-performance culture were both relatable and powerful — proof that great coaching transcends sport.

Donato Campagnoli (Italy) – FITP

Session: International Performance Training: Insights from Top-Level Sports
Donato’s session was pure precision. On court, he was intense, organised, and laser-focused; off court, calm and generous. His ability to connect high-performance methodology with everyday coaching realities made his session a highlight of the weekend.

Garry Cahill (Ireland) – Founder, Prodigy Tennis

Session: Impulses from International Coaching Practice
Garry brought experience and authenticity in equal measure. His insights into international coaching pathways and player development struck the perfect balance between academic understanding and lived experience.
Beyond his talk, Garry’s warmth and generosity made an impression on everyone — the kind of coach who makes the room better simply by being in it.

The Real Lesson: Stay Vulnerable

By the end of the weekend, I felt proud — and humbled.

Proud to have shared a stage with some of the best coaches in the world.
Humbled because I realised I still have so much to learn.

That’s not a weakness — it’s growth.

The more you see true mastery, the more aware you become of your own gaps.
And that’s exactly where improvement lives.

Great coaches never stop learning.
They don’t fear being the least knowledgeable person in the room — they seek it out.

That’s what makes events like Coach The Coaches so valuable.

Why Events Like This Matter

Tennis doesn’t need more PowerPoints or pre-approved frameworks.
It needs environments where coaches can be challenged, inspired, and re-energised.

The Coach The Coaches Conference delivers exactly that.

• It reconnects coaches with the why behind their methods.
• It builds community and removes ego from learning.
• It bridges the gap between theory and practice — between science and story.

Every conversation, every presentation, every exchange moved the profession forward.
That’s the kind of learning that stays with you long after you leave the court.

Watch It Back

You can rewatch my session — “Serving with Intention: Preparing Players for the Green Court Before They Get There”— along with every other presentation, on demand via the Coach The Coaches website.

CLICK HERE

To every speaker, organiser, and coach I shared the court with: thank you.
You made me better.
And that’s the highest compliment I can give.