Mental Skills Project
LTA Senior Coach Course
Mental skills project consists of a presentation that has to
be delivered during module 6 of the course
The presentation consists of the 8 slides at the end of this
presentation
Assessment will be on a combination of the content of
these slides + the presentation delivered
The project is to be based around a real life scenario and a
mental skills goal + intervention with a player you are
working with
Pass mark is 60/100
Coach Course
•
•
•
•
•
Senior Course
has an
•
understanding of
human motivation •
through CAR
coaching
can increase the
likelihood of a
player being
•
motivated using
CAR coaching
understands the
•
principles of a
healthy motivational •
climate
has an
understanding of
the impact and role •
of parents
can use SMART
goal-setting on and •
off court with
players
•
demonstrates a range of CAR •
coaching skills
demonstrates a range of
coaching skills to encourage
•
high levels of physical and
mental effort needed for
deliberate practice
•
can explain the mental skills
required for tennis, linked to the •
nature of the game
demonstrates the use of the key•
elements of goal setting
has a basic understanding of
the relationship between
thoughts, feelings and
behaviours
•
demonstrates evidence of
creating a positive parental
motivational climate
uses understanding of
•
achievement goal-theory and
attribution theory to design and
effectively use a match and
•
training review sheet
shows understanding of the
practical implementation of the •
process of a between point
routine
Master Course
can evaluate motivational climates
surrounding players and provide effective
solutions
demonstrates the implementation of a
task oriented climate in their own
coaching environment
demonstrates advanced 5C’s on court
‘coaching psychology’ skills
can conduct a high quality post match
review
understands the principles of stress and
anxiety and can develop both cognitive
and behavioural coping strategies with
players in competitive, high pressure
environments
demonstrates high level communication
skills (e.g. listening, empathy, conflict, etc)
to develop effective working relationships
with others e.g. parents
demonstrates understanding of the
relationship between thinking, feeling and
behaving
can effectively use interventions to help
players to challenge their own unhelpful
thinking
can analyse complex scenarios from a
psychological viewpoint and identify
effective solutions
Poster Presentation
• Slide 1: A brief description of the case study
• Slide 2: Your review – a short description of ‘what’s going on’ in
your story
• Slide 3: A SMART mental skills goal in the area that you have
identified
• Slide 4: On Court Coaching Tools – describe the on court
interventions (exercises/drills) you might use to help the player
• Slide 5: Off Court Coaching Tools – describe the off court
interventions (exercises/drills) you might use to help the player
• Slide 6: Super Coaching - describe the communication, art of
coaching interventions you might use to help the player
• Slide 7: The outcomes of the interventions
• Slide 8: How this process has improved your coaching
Poster Presentation Marking
Slide 1
A brief description of the case study
Slide 2
Your review – a short description of ‘what’s going 15 marks
on’ in your story
A SMART mental skills goal in the area that you 15 marks
have identified
Slide 3
7.5 marks
Slide 4
On Court Coaching Tools – describe the on court 15 marks
interventions (exercises/drills) you might use to
help the player
Slide 5
Off Court Coaching Tools – describe the off court 15 marks
interventions (exercises/drills) you might use to
help the player
Slide 6
Super Coaching - describe the communication,
art of coaching interventions you might use to
help the player
15 marks
Slide 7
The outcomes of the interventions
7.5 marks
Slide 8
How this process has improved your coaching
10 marks
• A bit more detail on the 3 key slides of:
– On court
– Off court
– Super coaching
Off Court
• Learning opportunity is not confined to the tennis court and
lessons only. Take on board the regular practice of the
academic school and set ‘homework’ between each lesson.
Replacing the term ‘homework’ with ‘tennis challenge’ might
be more exciting and more appealing to younger players.
• These off-court exercises and activities provide coaches with
additional and alternative ways to help players learn outside
of the tennis court and help the player to grow and develop
self-responsibility as well as enabling the coach to explore
player motivation. They can be delivered so that they have a
homework feel to them.
On Court
• This is a compendium of on-court activities, drills
and games for you to use with a variety of ages
and standards of players. These on-court
activities will allow players to experience and train
specific skills. The key to effective use of on-court
drills and practices can be encompassed in
saying that it should never be described as
• ‘Nice drill…. shame about the relevance’
Super Coaching
•
This is going beyond the already admirable quality of having a large personal store of
relevant on and off court interventions. Super Coaching is occurring when the players’
“light bulbs” are flashing on repeatedly or helping to get that ‘penny to drop’ in record
short time.
•
There is no objective definition or dividing line which separates Super Coaching from
other coaching. It is a subjective judgment and possibly elicits from the observer or
witness a feeling or comment of “now that is really great, really special, I wouldn’t have
thought of that!”
•
‘A great coach is a great psychologist’. It is often the ‘how to do’ skills rather than the
‘what to do’ skills that make the critical difference between good coaches and great
coaches. This could be termed the art of coaching as it involves the skilful
implementation of knowledge. Knowing what to deliver, how much to deliver, when to
deliver it and how to deliver it are essential in being skilful at helping others.
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USING ANALOGIES
TRANSFERENCE OF SKILL – Challenging Unused Strengths
TENNIS AS A MICROCOSM
EMPATHY
EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING
FEEDBACK
CAR COACHING
Field Work
• Working with your player, look at one aspect of
their mental skills development and improve it
• Present your poster presentation on 8 slides in
power point format in relation to your case study by
Module 6 (approx 20 mins)
• Use the following structure for the poster
presentation
Slide 1 - Description of the case study
• Name, Age
• Personal Characteristics
• Background of Player e.g. playing history,
family
• Personal Goals
Slide 2 - Your Review
• What’s going on in the story
Slide 3 - A SMART mental skills goal
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S
M
A
R
T
Slide 4 - On Court Coaching Tools
Slide 5 - Off Court Coaching Tools
Slide 6 - Super Coaching
Slide 7 - The outcomes of the interventions
Slide 8 - How this process has improved my
coaching