Coaching Methodology

All our Bear Mountain Professionals are Tennis Canada certified coaches and members in good standing of the Tennis Professionals Association of Canada.

The coaching conducted at our club is the official tennis teaching method endorsed by Tennis Canada called the “Actions Method” and is a “Game Based” approach. It is an approach that uses progressive problem-solving activities to guide the development and acquisition of tennis skills. The Actions Method is built on four main pillars;

1. A learner centered approach. Everything the coach does starts with the question: “What does the student need to learn in order to improve their gameplay?” Emphasizing the importance of empowering the student and building independent problem solvers and self-sufficient learners rather than coach-dependent players is a key goal.
2. A game based approach. The goal of all tennis coaching is to equip students to play the game better. Since improving game play is the goal, everything the coach does is aligned with achieving this goal. In simpler terms, one needs to know what to do before being taught how to do it. The game based approach differs from traditional coaching methodologies in which there is often a “disconnect” between training and gameplay. The result of this disconnect is that the students are frequently unable to successfully use newly-aquired skills once they leave the coaching court.
3. An open-skill approach. Tennis is an open skilled sport, a sport in which a player’s actions must be continually adapted to the situation at hand. In the making of a tennis shot a player goes through a four step sequence. They must accurately Percieve the situation on court, then make the proper Decision based on that assessment, Execute the decision efficiently and effectively, and finally give themselves Feedback based on assessing the result and using it to learn and improve future performance.
4. A global approach. Tennis requires a wide diversity of skills, tactical, technical, Mental, Emotional, and Physical skills. Any difficulty a player has in performing a task may have its roots in one or more of these areas. This is quite different from traditional coaching methodologies that concentrate heavily on the technical component, often touching on the other elements only lightly, if at all.

These four pillars are integral to every level in the Canadian Tennis Coaching Certification system. All our bear Mountain Professionals will be fully certified Tennis Canada Coaches and members in good standing with the Tennis Professionals Association of Canada.

Junior Tennis Coaching Methodology

The junior coaching conducted at our club is the official tennis teaching method endorsed by Tennis Canada called the “Actions Method” and is a “Game Based” approach. With juniors and specifically younger juniors the approach is called “Progressive Tennis”.

It is imported from European countries such as France and Belgium. Progressive tennis uses a systematic progression of court sizes, balls, and rackets, to scale the game down to an appropriate level for 4 to 10 year olds.
The power of the Progressive Tennis system is that it allows players to play quickly and successfully.

In Progressive Tennis, the philosophy is that tennis is a great and fun game to play and the quicker and more skillfully a player can play the more fun it is. Each stage not only has specific equipment to aid success, but particular skills to develop as well.

With this approach, each coach’s job is to get the junior to “Play”, and then help them to “Play Better”. Simply put, “Progressive Tennis” is used as a developmental tool to allow young children to improve their overall tennis skills faster so they can transition to the regular court with more ease.