Join Bartholomew Hall as we sit down with Medway tennis coach Danny James to hear his story from tennis fan to running one of the fastest growing academies in the towns.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Invictus Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to Kent's sporting
00:17action.
00:18We're switching things up and trying a new format to the show that you know and love.
00:21Today we're bringing you an interview with Dan French, a tennis coach from Medway who
00:25went from playing against his dad in a makeshift court in their garage to building his very
00:29own training academy from scratch.
00:32We hope you enjoy.
00:34Dan, thank you very much for coming along to the studio, really good to have you here
00:38again.
00:39I want to start by talking about your path into tennis.
00:43What was the first time you, tell me about the first time you picked up a racket?
00:46I think the first time I remember really doing it was me and my dad used to put a net across
00:52our garages and we used to play a little bit together there and then after that I kind
00:58of sort of encouraged some friends to play and we went down the strand and played during
01:04sort of that time when Wimbledon's on and then it sort of ended up me just sort of being
01:09the only one that kind of carried on.
01:12Some of my friends stuck it out for a bit of a while but then I just continued and then
01:15just didn't really look back after that.
01:17Yeah, I mean was your dad always into tennis?
01:20No, not really, we were just like challenging each other, he likes cricket, I could never
01:25beat him at snooker so we were quite sporty, quite competitive against each other and he
01:31never let me win but then I found that I could actually beat him at something so maybe that's
01:35why I carried on.
01:37And I know that you tried a few other sports as well growing up, you did some karate, a
01:40bit of football, why was it that tennis stuck with you?
01:45I don't know, I think watching tennis on TV is a really fun sport to watch and I kind
01:53of got a bit obsessed with it like during school and watching all the different Grand
01:57Slams and getting behind some different players and yeah I think then when I went to go watch
02:03tennis live I think it was just a totally different experience from anything else that
02:08I've seen live so I think that's what really helped me kind of keep going.
02:11What was the first time you saw tennis live?
02:14I think that was Wimbledon Centre Court and my first coach, I was very fortunate he actually
02:23gave me a ticket and we went together and we saw some good matches, saw Federer play,
02:29saw Murray play and then I think we saw Williams actually play Sharapova in a fourth round
02:33match so that was a good day.
02:35How old were you at this stage?
02:372011, about 14, something like that, 14, 13, something like that.
02:44And seeing someone like Andy Murray, Centre Court, Wimbledon, that's kind of, for a British
02:50young tennis player like yourself, that must have been huge.
02:53Oh absolutely as well and I think it was before he actually won Wimbledon as well so there
02:59was that kind of extra encouragement from the crowd to really try and get behind it
03:04so it was a really good atmosphere to be a part of.
03:06Yeah definitely.
03:07Talk to me, did you have any big sporting heroes growing up, I mean Andy Murray is one
03:11of the big ones obviously, was there any others?
03:15I think tennis wise I was a little bit left field so a lot of people would argue that
03:20when Federer played Nadal at Wimbledon 2008 that was probably one of the best matches
03:25going and I will always disagree with them because I liked watching this very specific
03:31match between Nadal and Vodasko and Vodasko actually just retired about two weeks ago
03:35so my favourite player actually has left the game now so, but he was my favourite player
03:42and I've been lucky enough to meet him a couple of times, he's a very good player, big lefty
03:47forehand, anybody who hasn't heard of him before, yeah definitely check him out, he's
03:51a good player.
03:52And as someone who's so involved in tennis, what's it like for you watching a tennis match
03:56that is just so intense, what are you kind of looking out for?
03:59I think a lot of people will look at the score to start with, I think sometimes a good
04:05match, well a classic match usually is qualified by five sets isn't it, but yeah I just think
04:12if it goes one way or the other way there's a little bit of drama, I think Nadal-Federer
04:16is a good example, there was the rain delays and that added to the tension and I think
04:23there's good stories behind some of those matches as well, particularly Nadal trying
04:26to beat Federer at Wimbledon for the first time, but yeah that Nadal-Vardasca match,
04:34it was somebody who was not really expected to be in a semi-final of a Grand Slam, giving
04:39it 110% and Nadal just saying you're going to have to go through me and he couldn't get
04:46the job done in the end but he gave it a hell of a try and it was a really respectable performance
04:51definitely.
04:52Going from a teen watching the stars at Wimbledon and the like to eventually becoming a coach
04:58of yourself, what was that interim period like, did you ever see yourself going professional?
05:04No I think because I came to the game quite late so I didn't really start playing tennis
05:10until I was about 11 or so, you still dare to dream and you want to do that sort of thing
05:16but I think there's a bit of realism there in terms of you've got to have a certain amount
05:22of talent and a certain amount of work behind you as well and I'm not saying that anybody
05:26who comes to the game late doesn't have the potential to go professional but I think I
05:31just didn't have enough behind me and enough talent behind me because there's got to be
05:36something there to kind of help you catch up as well.
05:39I think there are so many players out there that work so hard, particularly what we see
05:44in and around Kent that are doing a really great job of working and training as much
05:50as they do and I think it would be quite naive to suggest that if you don't put the work
05:57in you're not going to, you know what I mean?
06:01We see how much pressure is put on some of the youngsters now over on the global stage
06:05as well, we think about Emma Raducanu, Jack Draper, these sort of big names of British
06:11tennis but they're only in their early 20s but we'll come onto them, I want to talk a
06:15bit more about yourself first, tell me how Dan James Tennis came about?
06:20I mean it was a bit of a chance I guess in the sense of I just decided to really just
06:29take a chance on starting a business really and I saw the courts and the venue that was
06:35sort of available and asked the school if it was okay to do some after school club and
06:40during that period I was preparing myself to open and then I opened a little bit earlier
06:45than I was expecting because of some circumstances but from that point on it was just all systems
06:52go, started an adult programme from I think February 2022 and then started a junior programme
06:59in April so two months later and just been building ever so steadily and at the same
07:05time I was working as a cover agent so I was doing like 60, 70 hour weeks just trying to
07:11make sure that the business can actually grow and then it got to a point where it was
07:17okay and it was sustainable and then I was like yes this is what I'm doing and I'm enjoying it.
07:21This is always the story isn't it, when you go through something that eventually becomes
07:25as successful as it has become you've got to put in that grind at early doors. Tell
07:30me had you done any sort of training before, what was that sort of introduction to yourself
07:35from being someone that loved tennis to then teaching people how to play?
07:39I had been coaching for a while before then, it didn't just come completely out of a random
07:44spot of idea and I've always been involved in instruction as well even back when I was
07:49doing karate I think that was my first kind of exposure to some kind of instructing so
07:55I used to be asked by the sensei to help train some of the beginner players, beginner players
08:01you know what I mean, the beginner people and I think you just start to develop those
08:07skills to be able to communicate and show people how to do things and then I did become
08:12a teacher as well and yeah I just think this is sort of, a little bit reluctantly at times
08:19it's just been a bit of the path that I've gone down and I think now that the skills
08:25I've picked up over those years have kind of come full circle into something that I'm
08:29passionate about and I enjoy as well so, good. Yeah there's got to be this sort of buzz as
08:35well when you're teaching somebody and you see how much progress they make over time
08:39because you train people of all different experience levels. Yeah and I think it's also
08:45what those people, they all have different reasons for being there as well and you've
08:50got to try, you can't do a one size fits all approach, you've really got to find out what
08:55makes them tick and how they're going to, what they're going to do with it as well.
08:59And what was it like in those sort of early months of starting up the business, I know
09:02you said you were putting in hours, 60 hour weeks like you said to try and keep it going,
09:08what was it like trying to recruit people to play? Yeah tough, I mean anybody who's
09:15thinking about doing something similar you know, it's definitely a struggle and I would
09:20say that just word of mouth doesn't happen overnight so if you put the work in and you
09:28know you do good sessions, people start to talk and I think that's generally how I've
09:34gone about sort of growing it. I haven't really shouted too loudly on social media at times
09:41or anything like that and just you know let people come experience it, it's hard to get
09:47them through the door but whoever comes you know make sure that they have a great experience,
09:53you give them all the attention that they need and yeah really tailor your approach
09:58to them and make them feel that you know you want them to be there and we do genuinely
10:04as well and I think if you're genuine that's what really helps as well, people relate to that.
10:10What was the demand like here in Medway for people wanting to play tennis, I know you
10:15said when you were growing up you'd go and play at the Strand with your mates, what was
10:19that like turning into you know becoming a provider for it, did you have much competition?
10:24Well I think you know in terms of clubs around Medway, Avenue Tennis is a big tennis club
10:30and they've got an amazing infrastructure and I think what we provide is perhaps something
10:37a little bit different to what they provide so I think you've got different tennis clubs
10:42that kind of offer something a little bit different for people who want to try it and
10:48kind of experience it in a different way, a different kind of approach so yeah there
10:53are definitely clubs in Medway and there are definitely you know people out there that
10:58are providing tennis and stuff so it's definitely a bit of a competition out there, I think
11:03also we're not competing against other tennis clubs and so we want to work with other tennis
11:09clubs, we want to particularly with competitions as well it's really nice if you can get a
11:14good relationship going with different clubs and we do have that where we sort of network
11:19and tell players that you know competitions are happening at our venue and competitions
11:23are happening at their venue because you know you need players to compete so if you're a
11:27bit sort of isolated it doesn't really work and I think just as a last thing to say about
11:33that as well is you know there's been a rise in other different sports that are quite similar
11:38to tennis in recent years so paddle and pickleball are quite big sports as well that people sort
11:43of turn their hand to.
11:44That's it for part one, join us after the break as Dan and I talk about the current
11:48state of the game and I ask what his message would be to his younger self. See you in just a few moments.
12:07Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport right here on KMTV. Today we're speaking with Medway
12:12tennis coach Dan French about his journey from tennis fan to owning his own academy.
12:17Here's part two of our chat with him.
12:19Is it easier, harder than tennis? Is it comparable in any way?
12:23From the experience that I had I think definitely hitting off the glass is, that's a challenge.
12:30You're sort of turning and interacting with the ball in a way where the ball's coming
12:35off the glass and going forwards and the ball always comes towards you in tennis so that
12:39makes it a little bit difficult to get my head around. But I think largely I think the
12:47racket work or the paddle work is you don't need to change your grip as much so you kind
12:53of set yourself in one grip and I think I can definitely see the value in it for someone
12:58who would like to develop their volleys and their short game and these little shots where
13:05you need to adapt and things. But that sort of stuff can be done on a tennis court as
13:09well but anything to do with a ball coming towards you, hitting the ball or anything
13:14like that, you're working on the ability to read something come towards you and how you
13:20deal with that, the characteristics of the ball, pace, direction, depth, spin, speed.
13:26So really even players who don't get the chance to play on the court, whether it's paddle
13:32or tennis or whatever, but they want to get better at this sort of thing, you can do this
13:37at home with throwing and catching, batting a balloon, whatever, just because we're not
13:43calling it tennis on a tennis court, there's so many things that are similar and those
13:49are the skills that we're teaching.
13:51And I wanted to talk a little bit about the LTA, I know you're associated with them, they're
13:55putting a lot of money, working with local councils and lots of our Kent councils as
13:59well have signed up to this, trying to redevelop some of these tennis courts that we've seen
14:04that have gone into disarray over years, having more places for youngsters to learn is obviously
14:10going to be great for getting more people into the sport, surely it's something that
14:14you'd be in favour of, having more tennis courts across the county?
14:17Oh yeah, 100% and I'm really looking forward to the idea of particularly Chatham Football
14:24Ground and The Strand, that's a court that inspired me to play anyways in general, so
14:30when I was playing with my friends, but I think this is really good to have good upkeep
14:37on those courts as well and I believe that the council, they're going to be looking at
14:43providing free sessions as well and I'll be in favour of that and I'm definitely putting
14:48my hand up and wanting to help that along with the skills that we've got and what we
14:54can provide as well, so we definitely would like to be a part of that and help raise the
15:01sport as well.
15:02Let's talk about your club, so we've been down before, we've taken a camera down and
15:06we've had a look and seen what you guys are up to and it seems like there's such a community
15:10down at Dan James Tennis, tell me what's the week in, week out like?
15:16Busy, there's a lot of coaching going on at the moment, so from all the different age
15:23groups that are broken down into the different colour balls, so a typical week will be Monday
15:30to Thursday and then Saturday coaching in the morning and then we're also kind of opened
15:36up a lot more competition, so I think one of the big differences between now and the
15:41last time we spoke was I've become a tournament referee and that's allowed more chances for
15:48people to get a bit more involved and play and actually have tournaments that are sanctioned
15:54by the LTA and that really does draw some players in to come and play on our courts
15:59and play those competitions, so building up a nice reputation for that as well, so yeah
16:05Yeah, a typical week is quite full on, I see an adult group every evening now, so we've
16:14broken them down into more of an advanced class as well and then we've got a ladies
16:19only session and then we've got our mixed sessions as well as we prepare for our first
16:23sort of Kent League games, so this is something new for us this season, we're going to do
16:28the Summer Kent League and so with that in mind we've sort of had to have another session
16:33and put a little bit of focus on doubles to try and help those players that are going
16:37to represent the club in that, so that'll be quite fun as well
16:40And of course getting involved in that local community as well, that sort of Kent spirit,
16:44it's sort of a segue because I wanted to move on to talk about Emma Raducanu now, she's
16:49got those Kent links being from Bromley, for someone like her, winning the US Open in the
16:56first time that she'd been there, there was a lot of celebration around Emma Raducanu
17:01at the time and the reason I bring her up is because for someone that trains a lot of
17:05youngsters, I wanted to know how do you get that balance between celebrating the success
17:09and not over-expecting too much in the future, because since that US Open win, Emma Raducanu
17:16hasn't won another major since then and there's been lots of questions about whether there
17:20is just too much expectation on her
17:22Yeah, I mean that's a very British thing isn't it, that's a mentality that runs through most
17:29of our sports isn't it, with football as well and I think first off, Raducanu, I mean
17:35I'm in no position to say because she has done something that is beyond my reach ever
17:42and she will always have that grand slam and I think that she's done a great job and a
17:47great ambassador as well for tennis in Kent and tennis nationally and globally as well
17:54But yeah, in terms of expectations, I think the women's game, that's definitely a game
18:02where it's quite hard for players to stay consistent, we're starting to see it flatline
18:07a little bit with players like Sabalenka and Svajtek now who are at the top of the game
18:13and being there a little bit more consistently but I've remarked quite a few times when people
18:19have posed a similar sort of question, it would be one hell of a quiz question if someone
18:24was to ask me to name all of the women grand slam winners for the past 20 years, it's difficult
18:31to stay at that top and repeat that success
18:35But yeah, just to go back to what you were kind of originally asking, if I had a young
18:41player in front of me who I see has got some good potential, I think it's about making sure
18:50that they understand what the process is and not being outcome driven and I think this is
18:57across all tennis and perhaps all sport as well, I'm pretty sure there will be lots of similarities
19:03if you spoke to other coaches, if you have more of a process mindset, the outcome starts to follow
19:09For tennis players, stepping up onto the baseline and just going through what you want to do,
19:14where do you want the serve to go, how is that going to look, visualisation is quite a big thing
19:19in sport as well but if you're visualising lifting the trophy before the process of getting there,
19:26that's going to sometimes work against you a little bit, it's nice to dream but I think the present
19:33and I think Nadal says that a lot as well, point by point by point by point, it's a very long game
19:39And there's so much that goes into the mental approach to a game as well, we know how physical
19:44tennis is at that high level, how much an injury can set someone's career back but as well mental
19:50health as well, it's such a huge conversation, I just wondered how do you bring that approach
19:54into your training as well, how much do you talk about that side of a mental approach to tennis?
19:59Definitely, now that we've opened up more competition and we've got players who are actually
20:06transitioning from just playing in groups and we've got some really young players who are really
20:14motivated but also tennis is a difficult sport in terms of win-lose, I found myself talking to one
20:22of my young players the other day about this and he's a gymnast as well and I said in gymnastics
20:30you get personal bests but in tennis we don't measure ourselves like that, it's measured up against
20:36me and you playing a game and if I'm not feeling my best that day, you've won and that's really hard
20:42to take and the scoring system as well in tennis, you can win lots and lots of points but you might
20:47walk away without a set and you might even walk away without a match and getting the communication
20:53around that back to the young players, it can be difficult, I think it's hard to try to manage the
21:04disappointments sometimes and let them know that they are doing great and those expectations, it's a
21:12longer process than perhaps what's right in front of them in that very moment but those players,
21:20they're doing alright and it's part of the journey isn't it?
21:24Definitely, let's wrap things up, I want to go back to yourself because I think it ties into what you
21:29were just saying quite nicely, it's a question we're going to ask all of our guests on Invicta Sport
21:33over the next few weeks, if you were to talk to your younger self again, that youngster who was playing
21:40tennis with his mates, trying to get people involved in it, what would you say about the future, about
21:45everything that you've achieved since?
21:47Yeah, it was going to happen I think, for someone like myself I did struggle with a lot of self-esteem
22:00when I was a bit younger and being someone competitive as well, the older I've got actually, the less
22:06competitive I've got, I think I've almost burnt myself out a little bit so what will be will be but I think
22:13if I'd known what I'd be doing now, about 10-15 years ago, I would have taken that, it's been really good
22:23three years of business and to be, last week we were invited to the Kent LTA Awards and that's something
22:34that I wouldn't have thought was possible when I opened the gate for the first time and said I'm going to
22:39start a tennis club, I thought it wouldn't last so the fact that it's happening and people are enjoying
22:46themselves and I think that's one of the biggest joys about it as well is actually just seeing people really
22:52enjoy it and having a good time of it and yeah so I think for myself, I think just knowing that, if I knew that
23:01a while ago I probably wouldn't have been so hard on myself and my coach used to say that to me anyways,
23:06say I'm not hard on you because you're hard on yourself anyways so that would have been his approach to
23:12managing someone who's disappointed with a loss, just say get on with it.
23:16Dan James, thank you very much for joining us today, really good to have you on.
23:20Thank you very much for having me.
23:21That's it from us on today's episode of Invicta Sport, don't forget there's plenty more sports news,
23:26interviews and features from right across the county available on our website, just go to kmtv.co.uk,
23:31click on the sports tab or watch back previous episodes of Invicta Sport by clicking on programmes.
23:37That's it for now, we'll see you next week.
23:56.