TPA/PTR put on a great Professional Development courses in Toronto and Montreal

Each year the TPA hosts professional development seminars in conjunction with the Rogers Cup in Toronto and Montreal. This year there were 3 separate seminars held during the week of Rogers Cup, all of which were a resounding success.

The seminars kicked off on Monday, July 25 in Toronto with a combined TPA and PTR (Professional Tennis Registry) seminar. Co-hosted by Andy Sutton, lead course facilitator for the province of Ontario, and Brian Parkkonen, Director of Development for the PTR; 37 coaches participated in a day of active learning. Andy started the day off by leading coaches through a number of games and activities that can be used to help incorporate team tennis into a coach’s camps and programs at their clubs. Brian followed Andy's presentation by demonstrating a number of games that can be used by players of all levels and ages to help ensure tennis stays a sport for life for those participating. After a great day of learning, the coaches were invited to the Rogers Cup, where they were treated to the outstanding match of up and coming Canadian junior star Denis Shapovalov defeating Nick Kyrgios in the first round of the Rogers Cup.

On Tuesday, July 26, two separate seminars were held in Montreal for coaches. In the morning 18 coaches and physical trainers attended a high performance physical development workshop. Doctors Jacques Toueg and Martin Lamontagne presented on wrist and shoulder injuries. Jonathan Tremblay presented on the importance of proper planning when training and understanding what an athlete’s work load will do to a player’s body. Nicolas Perrotte discussed three essential points to physical development, and Gabriel Echevarri of the USTA gave an on-court presentation about exercises to train deceleration.

In the afternoon, 23 coaches from Quebec got to hear the same presentation given the day before in Toronto. Brian started the day off, a reversal from the previous day where he followed Andy's presentation. Andréanne Martin, director of development for Tennis Quebec then gave the same presentation as Andy, talking about the importance of team play in tennis, especially at the younger ages. As in Toronto, the Quebec coaches were also invited to Rogers Cup Tuesday night where they got to watch hometown favorite Eugenie Bouchard defeat Lucie Safarova in the first round of Coupe Rogers on Centre Court at Stade Uniprix. 

If you missed these events but want to know about more professional development opportunites coming up, go the the TPA website for a full list of upcoming events.

Andy Sutton

On-Court Presentiation