The 2024 LTA Coach Forums are aimed at coaches with an interest in developing mental skills for grassroots up to competitive level players.  

By the end of the LTA Coach Forum, coaches will: 

• Understand the ‘5Cs framework’ for developing practical mental skills 
• Be able to train concentration to improve performance on court 
• Be able to help players control their emotions better on the match court 
• Off-court session: Be able to better communicate with parents, players and key stakeholders to maximise the success of your coaching and business 

Mental skills are often cited as critically important but rarely receive as much attention as technical, tactical and physical development. 

The on-court session covers mental skills in a practical and coach friendly approach. The on-court session will showcase a variety of drills that set up an environment to train mental skills. Coaches will learn about basic visualisation, body language, breathing and self-talk mental tools to help develop players. This session was developed by Chris Harwood, a chartered sport psychologist for 30+ years, a Sport Psychology Professor at Loughborough University and now a Director at Nottingham Trent University, alongside Liz Jones former WTA 100 player, and Merlin van de Braam, Head of Coach Development & Support at the LTA.

The off-court session will be an interactive coach-to-coach discussion session. The main theme will be developing better communication with parents, players and key stakeholders. Coaches will have the chance to discuss their own personal experiences and share top-tips and gain practical takeaways to enhance key relationships. We hope these professional coach discussions will leave coaches: informed on best practice; connected; motivated and engaged for the year ahead. 

The overall duration of this event is 4 hours (2hr 30mins on-court, 30mins networking, 1hr off-court). Book your session now to secure your place and we look forward to seeing you on the day. 

UCoach is one of the UK’s largest providers of Assistant (Level 1), Instructor (Level 2) and Coach (Level 3) tennis coaching courses. We have been an LTA Coach Development Centre since 2009 and have trained over 10,000 coaches. We are proud of our reputation as a leading coach qualification deliverer and the coaches we have trained, many of whom choose to stay with us for all their qualifications. 

Our philosophy is in our strapline “It’s all about you.” We take a holistic approach to learning where all coaches are valued as individuals and encouraged to reach their full potential in their own timeframe. We reach out to anyone with a desire to coach. The range of coaches includes young coaching assistants, schoolteachers and leaders of clubs, retired tour players and experienced performance coaches, all with one aim, to develop their tennis coaching skills. We encourage all our partners to be actively involved in our coach education programme and to provide feedback to ensure we maintain a high quality of delivery. 

As well as LTA qualifications at Assistant, Instructor and Coach, UCoach delivers LTA and bespoke CPD courses. Our bespoke courses include First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, Safeguarding and courses relevant to growing a coaching business as well as Mentoring and Skill Acquisition.  

For further information, please visit our website or contact us at administration@ucoach.org.uk.