In June 2020, the ITF announced the players elected to the newly-created ITF World Tennis Tour Player Panel. The members will sit on the men's and women's panels until the end of the 2021 season, when two-year terms will be introduced for their successors. Each panel also includes a coach – for the women’s panel, Canada’s Debbie Kirkwood has been appointed to the role, while Todor Enev of Bulgaria will serve on the men’s panel.

Kirkwood, a member of the ITF Coaches Commission, will sit on the Women’s Player Panel alongside chair and ITF Board Member Mary Pierce, and the seven elected members: Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB), Ines Ibbou (ALG), Petra Januskova (CAN), Yuliana Lizarazo (COL), Tara Moore (GBR), Conny Perrin (SUI) and Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS).

The panels will advise and make recommendations to the ITF World Tennis Tour Committee on all questions of concern to players including, but not limited to, the ITF Rules and Regulations.

Kirkwood served as Director of High Performance at Tennis Canada from 2006 to 2020, helping to lay the groundwork for the nation’s series of stellar successes in 2019. She tells ITFTennis.com about the changing face of tennis coaching and her hopes for the ITF’s new Player Panel initiative.

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Could you tell us a bit about your career in coaching, where it began and your personal highlights?

I have been very fortunate to have worked or volunteered at virtually every rung of the player development ladder. Starting out as a community club coach in Toronto in 1985, I progressed through the ranks as a provincial high performance coach and joined Tennis Canada as national coach in 1994, working as an international touring coach with the Under-14s and Under-18s and captaining Canada’s World Junior Tennis and Junior Fed and Davis Cup sides until 2000.

I worked at Tennis Canada for over 25 years, serving as manager of player development from 2001-2005 before being appointed Director of High Performance tennis in 2006. As well as assisting Canadian teams to the Pan Am Games on home soil in 1999 and 2015, and to the Rio Olympics in 2016, one of my career highlights was leading Tennis Canada’s adoption of the Long-Term Athlete Development Model between 2006 and 2008 – a project that involved the participation of more than 60 key system partners, from personal, club and national coaches to parents, PTA leaders, past athletes and our Board of Directors.

Another highlight has to be Canada’s 2019 competitive season. That season was the culmination of many years of effort involving all the key stakeholders noted above, and one that witnessed the emergence of the Canada’s next generation world-class of players, each following their own unique developmental path.

During that historic year, Canada’s Girls’ Under-14 team finished third at the World Junior Tennis event in Prostejov; Leylah Annie Fernandez became a Junior Grand Slam singles champion at Roland Garros; three Canadian teenagers were ranked among the Top 20 in the world on the ATP and WTA Tours; Bianca Andreescu became Canada’s first female Grand Slam singles champion at the US Open; and the Canadian Davis Cup team reached the final for the first time!

 

Why did you decide to get involved with the ITF World Tennis Tour Player Panel and what do you think it can achieve?

First, I was immensely proud to be asked by the ITF to be a member of this new initiative. Tennis has been exceptionally good to me. It has given me the opportunity to develop as a coach, an administrator, a committee member, and as an individual with a global perspective. As a result, I am always looking for opportunities to give back.

The ITF World Tennis Tour provides developing professional players an opportunity to test and develop their skills as they strive to transition to the highest level of our game. In tennis we have learned that this transition is not always easy, and so it is my sincere hope that this Player Panel will provide me with an opportunity to work with all the elected players, our chair Mary Pierce and ITF staff members to find practical and tangible solutions which will help make their journey a smoother and more positive experience.            

 

How important is good communication between the ITF and other tennis governing bodies and the player and coach communities?

As a sport, tennis is global, diverse and has a broad scope. There are 210 ITF member nations in a sport that caters to men and women, from developing juniors to touring professionals, as well as coaches, federations, and international governing bodies. With that in mind, good communication is not just important, it is essential. But this convergence of diverse groups can also be incredibly challenging to reach.

So it has been wonderful to see, and now be a part of, the tangible steps being taken by the ITF and others to establish effective avenues of communication, which will provide a bridge between these various groups and the athletes – providing a vehicle to hear, understand and then tackle their issues and concerns. I sincerely believe this Player Panel has an opportunity to be one of those avenues.

 

Virtually all elite players have coaches, while many players on the ITF World Tennis Tour do not; while acknowledging that every player is different, what things could a coach typically help a player with compared to a player travelling without a coach?

A player fortunate to travel with a coach has several advantages. One is providing that neutral, impartial eye on the match. What went well? What could have been executed better? And then, the opportunity to translate these key learnings – be they technical, tactical, mental or physical adjustments – into the next training session thus helping to shorten the learning curve.

In addition, the touring coach can assist the player with match recovery strategies, scouting their next opponent, and management of the multitude of day to day essentials related to life on tour. The uncoached player has a bit of a blind spot in each of these areas.

One additional challenge today for the uncoached player on the ITF World Tennis Tour is the lack of matches that are available for video review, either via a televised broadcast, streaming service, or available post-match via taped video footage that then can be tagged.  A coach can capture those key aspects of the match for later review and discussion.

That being said, one of the beautiful aspects of tennis is that you are on your own as a competitor. The key, for both coached and non-coached athletes, is preparation. And this essential work is done by the coach with his or her athlete prior to stepping out on the court or departing on tour.    

 

Do you think that the coach-player relationship has changed in recent years? If so, how? Use of technology and data analysis, different fitness levels, different tactics?

I think the coach-player relationship has changed in many ways, particularly in two aspects: first, this current generation of athlete has grown up learning via different avenues then our generation, and second, the demands associated with competing have changed substantially.

Today’s athletes have come through a more fast-paced, short timeframe, digital and visually orientated environment. The way they learn and absorb information is different, and as a result coaching styles need to adapt. The time a coach has to convey information is shorter, and the mode of transferring information has evolved, with the use of video playing a greater role in player development, and the increasing importance of data analytics as an athlete progresses towards the elite levels of the game.

Because the demands associated with the game of tennis have changed, the job description of the coach has become much more comprehensive. The coach is now responsible for co-ordinating a team in support of the athlete’s development and aspirations. The physical demands of the game have evolved for both men and women. At the highest levels of the game, the points are more explosive and physically demanding. As a result, the work done in this area, at each stage of development in preparation for this new reality, is essential.

At the younger ages, the main objective is to build an overall athlete. As they progress, the tennis coach – working in an integrated fashion with the fitness coach and physiotherapist – looks to develop an athlete that will be able to withstand the rigors of the professional circuit week in and week out; maximizing their ability to perform while at the same time ensuring they can remain on the court training and competing.

Tactically, the game has also changed - most noticeably, points are shorter. On all surfaces, and for both men and women, the majority of rallies in any match are settled within the first four shots. When combined with the points above, we see the playing level is much more competitive overall, and the margin between winning and losing is smaller. All this again highlights the changes that have occurred in coach-athlete relationship touched on above. We could discuss a lot more on this topic!

 

How have tennis coaches been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, both at elite and recreational level?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the coaching profession. At the elite level, with playing opportunities halted globally, the precarious nature of the coaching profession has been exposed. Few coaches have full-time contracts, so when the players themselves were unable to play and generate income, many were forced to furlough the contracts of their support staff. In effect elite coaches were revealed to be globetrotting gig-economy workers.

Unfortunately, a similar situation has unfolded at both the national federation and regional levels. Many national governments have stepped in to provide some bridge funding during these difficult times, while the global governing bodies of tennis – the ATP, WTA, the four Grand Slams and the ITF – joined forces to distribute funds and offer assistance. But once the dust settles I am sure discussions will be held among all the sport’s key stakeholders to try and figure out ways to solve this tenuous issue going forward, in support of the world’s best coaches.     

At the recreational level, with the virtual lockdown of cities, outdoor and indoor recreational play along with the associated coaching positions also came to a complete halt around the world. Once again, this highlights the ‘gig’ nature of the coaching profession. As nations have begun lifting their lockdowns, we have seen a massive resurgence in recreational play, which bodes well for the coaching profession both short term and long term if we can capitalize on this renewed and growing interest – after all, tennis in one of the best social-distancing sports there is! 

Tennis coaches are very resourceful and creative individuals, and during the lockdown, these challenges also led to many creative solutions! I watched and participated in various ‘virtual’ educational opportunities that emerged globally: virtual coaching workshops; online Q&A sessions with tennis and non-tennis speakers; virtual fitness training sessions and coaching seminars, as well as coaching conferences, both domestic and international. There was also the extension of coach education tools like the ITF Academy’s online resources for free.

All these initiatives have helped to keep both players and coaches engaged and motivated during these particularly challenging times. As the world generally, and sport specifically, slowly emerges from lockdown, hopefully many of these innovations will continue to help support player and coach development and education going forward.