Who are HoppCoaching?
HoppCoaching are a family coaching business, I do the coaching and my wife Angie does all the co-ordination and admin involved in getting everyone in the right place at the right time.
How long have you been a professional tennis coach for?
I qualified as a tennis coach with the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) in 2003, having previously qualified as a squash coach in 2000.
Is it your full time job?
Yes. I’m probably on a court of some description (I also teach squash and racketball) for between 30 and 40 hours a week.
How would you describe your coaching style?
Overall I have a relaxed, informative style. I change the tempo and content of the lesson depending on the client – a group lesson with 5-7yr olds would be very different to a group of 4 mums! Oh and I’m a stickler for technique!
Where do you coach?
Although I live (and coach) in Chichester a lot of my tennis coaching is up and around the Downs, including East Meon, Petersfield, Milland, South Harting, Elsted, Rogate, Tillington, Wisborough Green, private houses and now Graffham!
What age groups do you coach?
Everything from 5 years old to my current oldest client of 81! The after school junior groups at Graffham will be Reception – Year 2, Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6 during term time, the same age groups will run in the holiday courses as well as extra groups for the older children in the Academy sessions. I do a lot of adult coaching in groups, in pairs and individually and have men and women clients. Everyone is different and has different needs so there’s plenty of variety in the lessons.
What could my 6yr old expect to do in an after school group lesson at Graffham?
Each week I base the lesson on an aspect of technique, like forehand for example, and I build the lesson around that. The first few minutes would involve some ball skills and some fun games, followed by the main phase of the lesson which is technique work progressing in difficulty according to the child’s ability. The end of the lesson is fun games using the skills learnt during the technique phase. The lessons are fast paced and fun, with attention to technique to build a solid foundation in their tennis. As the children get in to the older groups the amount of technique increases and there is more rallying, leading to constructing and playing more points.
What about adults, what are their lessons like?
It depends entirely on what the customer wants to achieve from the lesson, I can tailor the lesson to suit their needs, whether it’s in a group, a pair or on their own. It can be tactical or technical and is often a combination of the two. If the customer has a particular aspect of their tennis that isn’t working for them, we can work out a plan together to fix the issue.
How do I go about booking a lesson?
You can get in touch by email, text or you can even use an old fashioned telephone call! There’s more info on everything on our website, www.hoppcoaching.co.uk.
Give us one thing that we can all apply to our game to improve.
Relax! The tighter you hold your grip the more difficult it is to hit the ball well, so hold the grip as loosely as you can without letting go, particularly on the serve, and allow the racquet to do the work.
Richard Hopp
07904 069457
01243 784776
richard@hoppcoaching.co.uk