The LTA

Lambda · Futures qualifying

RE: The LTA

Var · Club Coach

Lambda wrote:
Lambda wrote:
The LTA have published updated lists for those on their programmes. For 2023, Sonay Kartal and Felix Gill move on to the Pro Scholarship Programme, while Katie Boulter, Fran Jones, Jack Draper and Aidan Mchugh are no longer on the PSP. On the Men's and Womens Programme, new for 2023 are Eva Shaw and Oli Bonding. As well as Felix Gill, also leaving the MWP is Joe Mazingham.

Pro Scholarship Programme
Jodie Burrage
Harriet Dart
Sonay Kartal
Paul Jubb
Felix Gill

Men's and Womens Programme
Amarni Banks
Hannah Klugman
Jasmine Conway
Isabelle Lacy
Alastair Gray
Oli Bonding
Max Carrier
Ben Gusic-Wan
Eva Shaw

Arthur Fery, Mimi Xu and Ella Mcdonald will move on to the Pro Scholarship Programme when they have finished at college/academy.
Ranah Stoiber will move on to the MWP once finished Loughborough National Academy.

Thanks, Lambda - could you just explain the significance between the two categories, please? Pro scholarship etc and men's and Women's programmes not sure what the significance is and cant understand why Dart is still on there. Confused - thanks in advance.

Lambda · Futures qualifying

The PSP is for players up to 24 that have the potential to be in the Top 100 singles or Top 30 doubles within 5 years. They can be on the Programme for up to 5 years. The MWP is for 14 to 22 year olds (and exceptional 12 and 13 year olds) who are showing the potential to meet the PSP selection criteria within 2 years. They can be on the Programme for up to 2 years. The main difference is the funding grant. The PSP gives a grant of at least £45,000. The MWP gives a grant of up to £35,000.

I can only assume Harriet is still there to complete her maximum 5 years.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

My questions are:

And Ali Gray is 24? Is that a college extension thingy?
And Max Carrier is there because?
And Katie Swan has never been on any of the programmes?

Lambda · Futures qualifying

Coup Droit wrote:

My questions are:

And Ali Gray is 24? Is that a college extension thingy?

And Max Carrier is there because?

And Katie Swan has never been on any of the programmes?

I think we've had the discussion about Ali Gray before and that he met the age selection criteria for graduating college players when he started on the programme.
Katie Swan completed the PSP a couple of years ago.
I should clarify Oli, Max and Ben are on the National Age Group Programme for U16. For some reason they're listed in the MWP list.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Lambda wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:

My questions are:

And Ali Gray is 24? Is that a college extension thingy?

And Max Carrier is there because?

And Katie Swan has never been on any of the programmes?

I think we've had the discussion about Ali Gray before and that he met the age selection criteria for graduating college players when he started on the programme.
Katie Swan completed the PSP a couple of years ago.
I should clarify Oli, Max and Ben are on the National Age Group Programme for U16. For some reason they're listed in the MWP list.

Yes, I remember the discussion about the extension thingy - seems weird though to have a 24 year-old on the same programme as a 15 year-old. But I guess....

dodrade · Satellite level

Has anyone seen the LTA's latest campaign to get kids interested in the sport?

www.lta.org.uk/play/parents-area/tennisables/

To be honest they seem rather ugly to me, A fit and healthy Jack and Emma winning regularly would probably do more to promote tennis to youngsters than some badly designed mascots.

Strongbow · All-time great

dodrade wrote:
Has anyone seen the LTA's latest campaign to get kids interested in the sport?

www.lta.org.uk/play/parents-area/tennisables/

To be honest they seem rather ugly to me, A fit and healthy Jack and Emma winning regularly would probably do more to promote tennis to youngsters than some badly designed mascots.

That is the LTA all over - too much money and too little sense.

Elegant Point · Satellite level

dodrade wrote:
Has anyone seen the LTA's latest campaign to get kids interested in the sport?

www.lta.org.uk/play/parents-area/tennisables/

To be honest they seem rather ugly to me, A fit and healthy Jack and Emma winning regularly would probably do more to promote tennis to youngsters than some badly designed mascots.

I watched one of the videos, actually started off quite promising with Jack and Emma, then went rapidly downhill hmm Wonder if they got feedback from their target audience? I suspect not.

I wonder how much the LTA payed for the campaign? Could probably have got a bunch of college students to design something better for a fraction of the price!

Heres what ChatGPT had to say wink

To design a video that will catch the attention of children and get them interested in playing tennis at the grass roots level, you can consider incorporating the following ideas:

Use bright colors and lively animations: Children are generally attracted to bright colors and lively animations. Therefore, you can use bright colors like yellow, green, and pink that are similar to tennis balls and create animations that are fun and engaging.
Highlight the benefits of playing tennis: In the video, you can showcase the various benefits of playing tennis such as improved fitness, hand-eye coordination, and strategic thinking. This will help children understand how playing tennis can be both fun and rewarding.
Feature relatable characters: You can create characters that are relatable to children and have characteristics that resemble tennis balls. For example, you could create characters that bounce around and have a fun personality.
Use music and sound effects: Incorporating music and sound effects can add to the overall appeal of the video. You can use upbeat, fun music and sound effects that mimic the sound of a tennis ball being hit or bouncing.
Show gameplay footage: Finally, you can include actual footage of children playing tennis at the grass roots level. This will give children an idea of what it looks and feels like to play tennis and can motivate them to try it out themselves.

By using these strategies, you can create a video that is visually appealing, informative, and entertaining, and that will capture the attention of children and get them excited about playing tennis at the grass roots level.

-- Edited by Elegant Point on Friday 16th of June 2023 07:52:37 AM

PaulM · Tennis legend

Isn't this a rehash of a character based campaign they've ran before? I'm sure I've seen something similar in years gone by.

And yes, seems to me key is people doing well on mainstream TV, and getting kids doing tennis skills in school PE with good teaching resources, combined with keeping investment in local park courts (I know that's not always ultimately down to the LTA). I'm not sure a kid coming across this on their tablet is going to suddenly want to grab a racket?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

For general info:

EXCITING NEWS Gosling Tennis Academy will be an LTA Regional Performance Development Centre (RPDC) from September 2023. Gosling Tennis Academy has a long history of supporting and developing the some of the best players in the country at every age and with the exciting RPDC addition the academy will continue to do this, training players with the highest aspirations to be their best on and of court for their whole journey as tennis players.

Elegant Point · Satellite level

Coup Droit wrote:
For general info:

EXCITING NEWS Gosling Tennis Academy will be an LTA Regional Performance Development Centre (RPDC) from September 2023. Gosling Tennis Academy has a long history of supporting and developing the some of the best players in the country at every age and with the exciting RPDC addition the academy will continue to do this, training players with the highest aspirations to be their best on and of court for their whole journey as tennis players.

Fantastic news - always felt it was a poor decision by the LTA when they made Batchwood (about 20 mins away from Gosling) the RPDC for 10 - 14 year olds and moved all of the full time older players away. Sadly despite significant investment at Gosling TC over many years, the LTA did nothing to protect its investment and when Better took over Gosling from W&H council, they replaced 3 indoor courts with a trampoline park hmm

There was a really good AASE scheme running there, which drew from a wide area and was a real asset for players studying A levels and who were mostly US college or Loughborough bound. Sadly the AASE scheme stopped running, would be great to have something similar start up!

Many of the original coaching staff remain and must be delighted with at last, a sensible decision from the LTA smile

Elegant Point · Satellite level

Growing our future sports stars
By grouping young sports players according to their biological maturity instead of their age, our research is levelling the playing field, helping top sports clubs to uncover hidden talent, reduce injuries and support the sports stars of the future.

- interesting idea (apologies if covered elsewhere). My friend lives in NZ and for years they have grouped junior rugby players by size and weight

Net benefits
One of the first big sporting collaborations for Cumming at Bath with this work was with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). In 2015, the LTA approached him with a problem: their brightest tennis prospects aged 14 15 were not going on to achieve on the tennis court and in competitions as they had envisaged they might.

They came to us with a clear problem. Why are some of our players just not progressing, what role was growth and maturation playing, and what could be done about it, Cumming explains. Enlisting the help of PhD student Gill Myburgh, the pair set about to solve the puzzle.

Their research - the first to look at the maturity status of elite junior tennis players in both males and females - again revealed that selection biases in tennis favoured early maturers. For girls, the challenge was even more acute. We could see the bias for early maturers but also the mechanisms underlying the bias. For girls that bias appeared even earlier, says Cumming.

That research investigated the influence of physical maturity on the identification and development of elite youth tennis players selected into the LTAs performance programmes. It also identified the potential benefits of periodically matching players by maturity status, rather than just age groups for training and competitions.

Her results have gone on to have a lasting impact with changes to practice and policy across British tennis. Cumming explains: This work really helped to inform practice and policy pertaining to the monitoring of growth and maturity of young tennis players. It gave the LTA a solution and a method to better identify and support early and late developers.

https://stories.bath.ac.uk/growing-our-future-sports-stars/index.html