Are coaching methods out of date? In conversation with elite coach Steve Whelan on the Constraints-Led Approach
We have all seen tennis coaching sessions that follow a familiar formula, with a basket of balls being fired at a player who gets a predictable diet of shots to hit, but is that actually harming the development of the tennis hopeful?
It is a question that has been posed by LTA-accredited Level 4 Tennis Coach Steve Whelan, who is also a coach developer, keynote speaker, and writer specialising in Ecological Dynamics, Ecological Psychology, and the Constraints-Led Approach for tennis.
This is a sport that tends to focus on improving serves, forehands, backhands and volleys of players through repetitive coaching techniques, but Whelan is convinced there is another approach.
In an interview with Tennis365, he looks to change the dynamics around how players of all ages are coached and the best ways to encourage them to reach their potential.
Do you feel we are getting in wrong in the way most coaches deliver a lesson?
We have a tradition problem in tennis. We have always done it one way and the perception of success is ‘fixing’ a player. What we have never done is ask what science and education tell us about how the human body works and interacts. Sometimes we look at another player or another nation and say if it has worked for them, we have to copy that. Well, I always say there are 1,000 dead bodies out there and by that I mean, something that works for Andy Murray won’t work for most people. Lot of people train the same way, but it hasn’t worked for them. Why do we only see 1 per cent of players succeeding? It’s a question worth asking.
How has your coaching mindset evolved?
After 24 plus years of coaching, I hit burnout. I knew something had to change. That’s when I discovered Ecological Dynamics and the Constraints-Led Approach. Now, I help coaches modernise their methods, design engaging sessions, and build careers they’re proud of—without sacrificing their time, values, or sanity. Statements like “the coach should rally more” or “players need longer exchanges” often stem from intuition, not evidence. Tennis coaching must move beyond personal beliefs and towards scientifically grounded frameworks. Ecological dynamics, the constraints-led approach, and representative learning design all share one principle: players learn best by being immersed in real tennis situations. The job of the coach is to guide intention and design affordances—not to control outcomes. So the next time a session looks messy or a rally ends too soon, remember: those moments might be the most valuable part of learning.
Can you look at someone like Jack Draper and use his success a model for English coaches?
You can look at how many hours he trained, what he did on court and try and copy it, but that is what will work for everyone. He worked with Justin Sherring in his younger days and his methods are a lot around playing and not basket feeding. I don’t know the ins and outs of Jack’s story, but I bet he played a lot of matches and around some coaching, he had a lot of unstructured sessions. By that I mean playing in an environment he will face on a court in a match. I saw a statistic recently saying 70 per cent of kids give up at the age of 13 because it’s too hard. But they have coaches who are telling them they are wrong all the time and they need to be more consistent. That is not helping them stay in tennis.
What is the Constraints-Led Approach to coaching?
It is not about teaching you how to rally for 50 shots, which we see all the time. That never happens in a match and when you go to play a match, everything you have worked on falls apart. The Constraints-Led Approach recreates a match environment in your practice sessions. Then hopefully when you are in that position for real, hopefully it all looks a little more familiar and you should be able to perform.
When you look at a player like Emma Raducanu, where do you feel she can improve?
Raducanu had a lot of success early on and you have to ask whether she has the hunger and desire to adapt and change to what she needs to do now. I’m sure she does because she is still out there playing and trying everything she can to succeed. Athletes need to change and adapt as they move on. Novak Djokovic has changed and evolved his game as he got older and Rafael Nadal was another example of a player who adapted how he played when injuries affected him. All the best players are super adaptable at whatever level you are playing at.