DSActive recently ran a tennis coach education workshop with the support of Tennis Shropshire and the LTA at Telford Tennis Centre.
Fourteen coaches from as far as Wrexham and Pershore came to the workshop. They learnt about Down’s syndrome, different learning profiles and how to adapt their sessions to maximise their effectiveness.
Recent research from the Activity Alliance shows that many coaches do not feel confident coaching people with a disability. This workshop is designed to educate coaches on how to support people with Down’s syndrome to ensure opportunities are available for people with Down’s syndrome who want to play tennis.
The coaches were engaged, asked questions and, most importantly, shared their experiences. Multiple coaches remarked how useful the opportunity to meet other coaches with experience of similar sessions and challenges was. Everyone came away with the feeling of wanting to try something new.
At the end of the workshop, the coaches were invited to demonstrate how they would adapt a basic session plan and everyone chipped in with ideas born from many years of experience. Coaches tackled issues such as how to improve movement, how to prevent over hitting and how to be as multi-sensory as possible when coaching.
DSActive would like to thank Telford Tennis Centre and Tennis Shropshire for their hard work in helping us put on this workshop and all the coaches who attended.
To find out more about the DSActive workshop please email the team on dsactive@downs-syndrome.org.uk or visit the LTA website.
Interested in attending one of our sessions? Find out more using the links below: