top of page

The Art of Coaching and Coaching Inspiration

Writer's picture: Jason ChowJason Chow

Updated: Apr 9, 2024


In my middle age, 2 of the things I have been fascinated by are:

(a) how we learn during the course of our lifetimes;

(b) the special relationship between coaches and students.


One of the things that keeps teaching tennis interesting for me is my own selfish self-improvement. In other words, always pondering the question: "How I can be a more effective coach?" (when to use games & fun, rewards vs. punishments, the practice of routines, relationship-building, the mental game, etc.)


In my own self-improvement journey, I figured that 2 formidable tennis coaches, whom are arguably some of the most well-known tennis coaches of all time, were worth investigating:

  • Nick Bollettieri - Documentary "Love Means Zero" trailer, full movie

  • Patrick Mouratoglou - "The Playbook" trailer, episode 4 on Netflix. (credit to Coach Mike Jessup for the find 🙏🙏!)

Watching the 2 movie/videos were thought provoking for me (as a tennis player, tennis coach and as a life-long learner). I don't want to ruin these 2 great videos, but here are teasers to explain a bit why these are worth watching:

  • How Boris Becker used Brooke Shields to beat Andre Agassi mentally

  • How Boris Becker read Andre Agassi's body language to read and beat Becker's serve during the US Open

  • Nick's coaching secret to producing champions, from his players; also, how cruel and lacking in empathy he was as well.

  • The time Coach Patrick lied to Serena Williams and the impact on Serena during Wimbledon. (ask me when I do this 😆) & the time Coach Patrick slapped Serena / how Serena reacted (I don't do this ever 😁)

  • Why "emotion is the worst advisor" (I think you need to be extremely careful about how to use your emotions during a match)

  • Why the ability to get fired became Patrick's superpower

  • As a young child, how Coach Patrick developed his superpower to read body language

19 views
bottom of page