030 - Sid Newcomb - USPTA National Tester - The Importance of Diagnosis

Today we welcome Sid Newcomb, USPTA National Tester to the PTM Podcast.

Sid is going to discuss the importance of the diagnosis in a lesson.

Diagnosis is such an important part of what we do as teaching pros.

A lot of inexperienced pros tend to diagnose based on the last ball they just fed.  Way to much info instead of one thing they can work on.

In a private:

1. Start by removing yourself (or don’t teach the way you necessarily play)
2. Be observant of the student
3. Ask questions

These are all super important in the diagnosis.

A good pro has the confidence to ask questions to find out what is going on so you can diagnose.

Like a doctor when you take your sick child in and tell him that she has had a fever.

He/She will ask questions in order to get to a diagnosis based on the answers you give him/her.

For someone just starting out in their teaching: 

Watch your student start hitting the ball to try to come up with some conclusions and ask questions in regards to what they are looking to do.  (Ex. Keeping it low)

Bottom Line: Be observant, ask questions and remove yourself and how you learned from the equation.

Sid made a great point about asking questions because sometimes your cure isn’t the cure they’re looking for. By asking the right question it’s going to be easier to pinpoint out what to start looking for because you know the issues that your students are having.

And hopefully, most of your students will be worried about the match and not the warm-up.

To learn more about Sid go to: www.Uspta.com

Good Luck,

Coach Mick, USPTA