Just Play

We discuss what the life of a pro is like, could we do the constant travel year on year, interviews, training, not seeing friends and family as often as we'd like - would we embrace all of this or would it be too much. What are the benefits and drawbacks do we believe of being a Pro.

Lots of people believe to be a great athlete you have to have some sort of resilience whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. Does this resilience stem from a persons childhood or experiences they have encountered, we discuss!

Ryan and Andy discuss the UK's LTA Tournament competition structure. Focusing mainly on juniors, they look at whether it does accommodate all, focusing on the beginning of everyone's journey at your first venue whether it be a club or a park, and whether it is easy to compete and fair? Is ranking / WTN the most important thing or should it be about the enjoyment and love of the game? Should we be comfortable being uncomfortable and putting a little 'pressure' on players to see if they thrive or survive? We discuss!

In this episode we discuss the recent change of sponsorship for British player Emma Raducanu. She once was affiliated and sponsored by Nike, but her change to Uniqlo makes her a Global Ambassador for the brand, so is this a good move long term for her and potentially other players follow suit? Is it all about the money or having more input into what you wear? We discuss!

We discuss in today's pod a little more about Grand Slams and how they all differ in terms of applying for tickets - does this contribute to tennis being accessible or non accessible when you want to go and watch the pro's? Surely we want as many people to have a fantastic experience and all want to go, but does price also play quite a bit factor?

We take a look at the Australian Open 2026 Singles Quarter Finalists where we haven't seen too many upsets so far and in for some scintillating matches to come. Who do we think will make it to the final four or will there be a surprise or two along the way?

Happy Christmas to everyone! Ryan and I look at the 2026 season, and we try and make some bold predictions for who is winning the Grand Slams. We don't know who will be in form, who will get injured, but do we back some outsiders or is it going to be the same players in contention for titles in 2026 - listen and find out!

Social Media is really everywhere these days, and whilst when we began our journey over two decades ago social media was only really in its infancy with MySpace, Bebo to name a couple. But how important is it to use social media within tennis? Can we promote / sell in the right way to show what we do and entice new players to the programme. We discuss!

Lots of the freelance tennis coaches begin at one tennis venue and remain there growing what they have, but should you branch out and look at getting other venues / facilities and growing your business? Or do you begin to dilute what you have built already? We discuss the pro's and con's to expanding in the tennis coaching world!

Tennis seems to now be in jeopardy of being caught up by Padel, but since it's boom in the UK since Covid are we just following a trend around the world and it will in 5 years fade away or is it here to stay and take over? We discuss!

Lots of different coaching qualifications around the world doing great things in different ways but what if only one existed and Ryan and Andy created it? We tell you how we would go about it from how long courses should be to how you could / should be assessed and examined.

Discussing how teams are sorted out where we work, do Team Captains have a big say in it or is it too political and committees sort it out. Never an easy thing to do to say to someone they should play for another team within the club but it's apart of evolution of people getting better and wanting more of a challenge, but finding the right challenge is key and never easy to sort!