Amanda is an award-winning British tennis coach who has specialised in teaching promising juniors for over thirty years. She was training to be a journalist when life changes sent her in a different direction, and she has coached tennis ever since.
Her passion for the sport has always burned strong, so her steps to gain knowledge ranged wide. Apart from taking coach education courses, she qualified as a tennis referee, passed a NASM health and fitness instructor’s course, and became an LTA tutor. She could have pursued one of those paths, but coaching runs through her core.
Her ambition is to start off a future Wimbledon champion, but now she has an additional goal in mind. Amanda would like to share what she has learned in the hope that some may find the information useful.
Away from the court, she loves to write. Her first science-fantasy trilogy was published during the pandemic lockdown, and now is the perfect time to combine her interests by writing books about tennis.
None of this would have been possible without support from her wonderful husband and family.
Coaching Results
Success for Amanda comes in two forms: Do the players she coaches stay in the sport, and do they maximise their potential in later years? Much of this can be affected in both positive and negative ways by later events. She does not wish to take credit for great work following on from her coaching. Neither does she wish to take credit away from the players, as their successes are all their own. However, she is conscious that early input can make a difference. Established habits can have a bearing on eventual outcomes, so she may wait a decade to know how things turn out. A selection of significant eventual outcomes for players who she has coached individually at a young age are:
• World University Games silver medal (GB)
• Highest ATP singles ranking (as of June 2022) - 606
• Highest ATP doubles ranking (as of June 2022) - 298
• Junior Federation Cup silver medal (Aus)
• Junior ITF highest ranking - 17
• Inclusion in the senior 2020 Billy Jean King Cup squad (GB)
• Highest WTA singles ranking (as of June 2022) - 199
• Highest WTA doubles ranking (as of June 2022) 134
Many others have either represented GB at junior level, become National age group champions, or continued on to US university scholarship tennis.
Acknowledgements – With many thanks to:
Paul Layfield and Simon Ickringill for teaching me to play
Steve McLoughlin for inspirational coach mentoring
The LTA for support and excellent coach education
Rob Smith for website development and outstanding photography
Special thanks to my wonderful husband, Philip. Without his patience and support, none of this would have happened.