the essential
The president of the French Tennis Federation visited TC Lavaur on Thursday May 2. Gilles Moretton notably came to present the new direction that the French Tennis Federation (FFT) wishes to develop in the training of its young players.
What is the purpose of your coming to Tarn?
We organize meetings with clubs, teachers and volunteers/leaders. Key people in the way clubs operate. So we come to exchange, to share the good experiences that are happening through the 7,000 clubs in France. Above all, we listen to the problems they may have, trying to provide solutions. We did not invent them, they come from the field, we observed them. What goes to the right can go to the left. It is essential to go to the field, and not to stay in our offices. For example, this week (last week, editor’s note), we were in Drôme and Ardèche, then in Haute-Savoie and Yvelines. Our daily life is to go to the clubs.
Why Tarn and Lavaur?
We leave it to the territories, to the leagues, to tell us where we should go. As there are many departments, it is impossible to visit everyone, so we try to distribute. We had never been to the Tarn. It’s a fairly central department, not far from Toulouse, and a lot of clubs can travel to our meetings. The idea is really to limit as much as possible the kilometers to travel to come see us, it is also a mark of respect towards the clubs and their members. It’s important to thank them for their daily work. If the federation and tennis in France are doing well, it’s thanks to them. By May 1, we will reach 1.1 million licensees, a figure obtained at the end of last year. We will therefore exceed it in 2024. There is real enthusiasm, the emergence of padel, and tomorrow, it will be the turn of pickleball. We have good days ahead of us.
How does the Tarn department fit into the national dynamic?
He is in great shape. In general, Occitanie is doing well. We have figures increasing by 6 to 7%. And the Tarn is above. Tennis is high level, but also and above all leisure, health, para tennis, etc. All these practices work wonderfully in the department.
The purpose of your visit is also to discuss a review of the training method. What is the basis of this desire?
First, we were elected on a program. We decided to focus more on training than detection. It is important that training is at the heart of the debates because today’s tennis no longer allows any technical gaps. This means that a young person who has physical skills, but technical shortcomings, will end up no longer progressing. He will perhaps be the best in the under 12 or 14 categories, but he will not make the grade. Concretely, instead of encouraging young people to immediately win, we will seek to offer them assets in their game in order to be the best tomorrow.
“An evolution, but without touching the tennis galaxy.”
How is this change perceived by the clubs?
First of all, we must understand that the clubs’ concern, 99%, is leisure tennis, and 1% for the high level. They come to meet us because they want their young people, and not so young people, to have fun learning our sport. This is why we are proposing this modernization of the tennis school and teaching. We talk about very concrete elements such as the time spent on the court, the number of people, the number of shots. We must offer quality education, and not just pleasure. We talk about evolution, but without touching on what represents the tennis galaxy, namely the purple, white or orange balls.
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Tennis 81 – Lavaur: the yellow ball with special care
You say you come with proposals, ideas to convey. But how are you going to put them into practice?
Through training. Every time we move, there are three directions. That of clubs, practices and territories, which provides guidelines to improve club life and relations with local communities. Then, there is the training manager who explains how to access the different diplomas, and the possible developments for those who already hold them. He also talks about this new tennis school, and offers training for those who would like to get involved in this method. Finally, there is the national technical direction (DTN), which details the path to the high level. The presence of these three actors really allows us to outline all the aspects of our evolution, and provide the elements to put it into practice.
