Richmond Coach Attends USTA High Performance Coaching Workshop

The USTA High Performance Coaching Staff conducted a High Performance Coaching Workshop in Chatham, NJ. Seventeen coaches from all over the country attended the three day workshop. Guy Walton, tennis coach for the Virginia Union University Panthers tennis teams was one of the attendees. Walton is also on the staff of the City of Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities and teaches tennis at the Battery Park tennis courts.

The USTA High Performance Coaching Program is organized by Paul Lubbers, the director of Coaching Education and Sports Science, and Patrick McEnroe, the general manager and illustrious Davis Cup coach, was a guest speaker. The goal of the player development program is to provide American junior, collegiate and young professional players the opportunities to reach their maximum potential. McEnroe and Gigi Fernandez were in attendance at the Chatham workshop Fernandez, a two time Olympic gold medalist, winner of 17 Grand Slam doubles titles and recent inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was a member of Guy Walton’s team at the workshop.

The coaches learned to work with large numbers of junior players by setting up stations for skill development, nutrition, physical conditioning and mental toughness. The workshop demonstrated how high intensity junior training programs are conducted.

Walton found the experience energizing and exciting and said, “I learned a lot about training outstanding players and look forward to using in Richmond what I learned at this workshop.”