New Tennis App: ACES Tennis Management – Sven Groeneveld – Orange Coach

The job of coaching tennis is changing.  Gone are the days of coach working with player and communicating with parents.  Today’s coach spends more time compiling information, scheduling commitments, managing activities and then communicating the compilation of such to the team.  The more advanced the player, the more complex the team.  The task of keeping a team comprised of parents, agents, hitting partners, physio, sponsors, followers and the actual player, informed and all on the same page is a job unto itself and leaves little time for the actual work of coaching.

ACES has been designed to be customizable to fit many needs, yet remains simple and easy to use.  It features modules for: 1) scheduling of practices, engagements, commitments, school, rest, etc. 2) calendar for matches, tournaments, travel, etc. 3) Reporting – to create or import evaluations, physio updates, etc. 4) images, videos and PDFs.  By compiling all relevant information and providing a dashboard the coach and team can stay in sync.  Graphical overlays can quickly highlight important details enhancing communication and allowing coach to more effectively manage time, player and activities.

According to coach Sven Groeneveld, in 1992 while working with Monica Seles, he once waited in a hotel room for 3 days on a phone call before cell phones were prevalent.  In today’s world, everyone has a cell phone, tablet, email, messenger, calendars and agendas.  The sheer volume of information and access can be a full time job in coordination.  Groeneveld believes embracing technology is key to maximizing effort and maintaining transparency among the team.  Allocation of time is critical.

ACES is also key for college and academy coaches.  The tool can be customized to allow collaboration between coach, player and parent giving junior players clear communication and goals for accountability in their development plans.  ACES can be “driven” by coach or parent.  Like tennis, ACES is evolving with a goal to stay feature-rich, yet simple and easy to use.  Groeneveld is a strong supporter and is encouraging all coaches under his OrangeCoach.com umbrella to add this tool to their bag.  He feels the implementation of technology into coaching is critical to success.