The purpose of this study is to analyze my experiences as a tennis athlete and a coach via life history and narrative method.
The following reflects the research questions.
First, what influence do the experience as an athlete have on the student athlete's life?
Second, does the tennis coach's contextual life improve him as a professional?
Third, what suggestions does the understanding of my experiences make to tennis education context, particularly in relation to athletes and coaches' society?
It is not too much to say that tennis accounts for 99% of my life because most of my experiences are tennis related as far as I can remember. Data from the third grade in elementary school when I started tennis to a 28-year-old tennis coach were collected in "student athlete" and "coaching" respectively.
Data, which consist of the empirical stories as a coach, the conversations with my students when training, memos with other coaches, pictures and books, were 80 pages, revised and edited over ten times. The spiral analysis principles were observed for the analysis. The revision and complement was accomplished by mixing domain analysis and taxonomic analysis.
The results of this study are as follows.
First, my abilities as a coach were found. The coach is an educator, not simply a trainer who only controls and demands from his athletes.
Second, physical punishment and the verbal abuse should be eliminated when coaching because athletes have been treated only as exercise machines with such violence. Third, the coach as an occupation was found.
Will the student athlete be a good coach if he only performs well in matches? It is often the case that the student athlete does not attend classes and only does exercise. Is it proper that the performance is the only requirement for applying to the coach? It is necessary to regard a coach as an educator who teaches and respects students. Therefore, The coach as an educator should reflect upon himself and his practices.
This study is based on my experience as an athlete and a coach, serves as a useful introduction to anybody who is interested in improving coaching skills and who is inclined to know himself as a coach. The fact that this self study and makes the life history of a tennis coach meaningful deserves our full attention.