Walk around most tennis clubs on a Saturday morning and you will hear the same conversations repeated over and over again.

“Can we fix her forehand?”

“He needs to improve his technique.”

“Her serve motion looks awkward.”

“He needs more intensity.”

At first glance, these sound like sensible coaching conversations. After all, tennis is a technical sport. The strokes matter. Movement matters. The serve matters.

But after more than 25 years in tennis coaching, I’ve come to believe that many players and parents are asking the wrong questions entirely.

Because the primary purpose of a tennis coach is not to make a player look better at tennis.

It is to help them become better at playing tennis.

That distinction matters more than most people realise.

The Problem With Focusing Only on Technique

One of the biggest misconceptions in modern tennis coaching is the idea that better technique automatically leads to better performance.

It sounds logical. Cleaner movement should produce better results. Yet the reality of competitive tennis tells a very different story.

If perfect technique were the answer, then every player with an aesthetically pleasing forehand would dominate competition. But tennis history repeatedly shows us that the game rewards adaptability, not technical imitation.

Look at players like Daniil Medvedev or Frances Tiafoe. Neither player fits the traditional textbook image of “perfect” technique, yet both have competed successfully at the very highest levels of professional tennis.

Why?

Because tennis is not performed in isolation.

Tennis is chaotic, emotional, pressured, and constantly changing. Every ball arrives differently. Every opponent creates different problems. Every point unfolds in a unique way.

Technique is simply a movement.

Skill is the ability to adapt that movement under changing conditions.

And that is where many coaching conversations begin to break down.

The Wrong Question Parents Often Ask

Over the years, I’ve had many parents ask me to “fix” a player’s backhand or rebuild a serve technique.

Politely, I often decline those conversations.

Not because technique is irrelevant, but because my responsibility as a coach is larger than polishing isolated movements. My role is to develop adaptable, competitive players who can solve problems in real match environments.

There is a huge difference between:

• performing a movement in isolation,
  and
• successfully using that movement under pressure against another human being trying to beat you.

Unfortunately, many tennis lessons still focus heavily on isolated, decomposed practices that remove the very information players need in order to learn the game itself.

Players may look impressive during feeding drills or repetitive basket work, yet struggle to transfer those skills into competitive situations.

The problem is not always the player.

Sometimes the problem is the learning environment.

What Should Tennis Coaching Actually Focus On?

If I could encourage players and parents to focus on one thing, it would be this:

Focus less on how the player looks and more on how the player behaves.

When I watch players now, I am not obsessing over elbow positions or whether every shot resembles a technical model.

I watch for behaviours.

I look for:

• bravery,
• commitment,
• resilience,
• adaptability,
• problem-solving,
• and decision-making under pressure.

Can the player recover after mistakes?

Can they stay engaged when things become uncomfortable?

Can they adapt to different opponents, surfaces, and situations?

Can they explore solutions instead of waiting for constant instruction?

These behaviours tell us far more about long-term development than whether a forehand looks aesthetically pleasing during a static drill.

The Best Coaching Environments Feel Different

The best learning environments in tennis do not feel robotic or fearful.

They feel alive.

Players are encouraged to explore, experiment, and discover solutions that suit their individual capabilities. Mistakes are not treated as failures but as valuable information. Losing does not become a threat to identity. Instead, players learn to navigate challenge and uncertainty safely.

Too often, coaching environments become dominated by fear:

• fear of mistakes,
• fear of losing,
• fear of judgment,
• fear of looking technically incorrect.

This is where coaching can quickly drift away from learning and toward performance theatre.

Some coaches attempt to create motivation through shouting, intimidation, or constant pressure. Terms like “mental toughness,” “intensity,” and “dedication” are often thrown around without much reflection on what they actually mean.

But shouting is not great coaching.

Fear is not learning.

And players should never need verbal intimidation in order to engage with the game.

Respect matters.

A player-centered environment should allow athletes to think, adapt, and grow without constantly fearing failure.

Better Questions to Ask Your Tennis Coach

Instead of asking:

“Can you fix my child’s technique?”

Perhaps parents should begin asking questions like:

• How do you believe learning takes place?
• How do you design practices that transfer to matches?
• What behaviours are you trying to develop?
• How do players become adaptable?
• What values shape your coaching?

These questions reveal far more about a coach than simply asking about qualifications or technical expertise.

Because every coach carries assumptions about:

• learning,
• pressure,
• mistakes,
• autonomy,
• and player development.

The best coaches are deeply reflective about these beliefs.

What Should a Tennis Coach Ultimately Focus On?

At its core, tennis is still a game.

A game where players attempt to solve problems, compete, adapt, and find ways to place the ball where their opponent cannot return it.

Somewhere along the way, many players become disconnected from that simple reality. Lessons become over-structured. Players become over-coached. Technique begins to dominate every conversation.

And ironically, the joy of playing often disappears.

If I had to give one piece of advice to any parent or player, it would simply be this:

Ask your coach to help the player enjoy learning to play the game itself.

Not just repeating movements.
Not pretending to play tennis through endless drills.
Actually playing.

That means:

• competing,
• learning to score,
• solving problems,
• adapting under pressure,
• exploring new possibilities,
• and discovering what they are capable of becoming.

Because in the end, the players who thrive long term are rarely the ones with the most perfect technique.

They are the ones who learn how to adapt, compete, and stay connected to the game itself.