For those that do not know you Rob, please confirm what you do in the tennis world?
I am the head coach of Sandycove Tennis & Squash Club, Dublin, Ireland and run my own website www.robcherrytennis.com to provide fellow coaches with free drills / fun games for their coaching sessions.
Having looked at your website www.robcherrytennis.com it seems that you add videos of coaching drills to your website? What made you think of this service for your website?
I felt that it would be good to have videos of drills and fun games from coaches worldwide in one place, so it is easier for coaches to find ideas for their coaching sessions.
This must take up a lot of your time, do you have a background in web design / social media, or is this something that you picked up on your journey?
I studied computer programming and web design in college so yes, I have a background in this area. I learnt how to use social media from articles on the web. At the start, yes it took a good while to do, but the website updates itself automatically now unless I need to post one of my own coaching videos.
Who are the most famous coaches you have been in contact with and managed to display their drills?
Justine Henin, Bob Brett, Edgar Giffenig, Ian Westermann, Andreas Klaiber, Dimitrios Katsanos, Alex Slabinsky, Simon Konov, Tom Avery, and Ricki Macci to name a few.
As a coach yourself you must have picked up a lot of information from these videos. Whose videos have you found the most useful?
I think all of the videos are useful and have helped me a lot with my own coaching. I wouldn’t like to single out anyone in particular.
You have been coaching in the Sandycove Tennis & Squash Club in Dublin for a good number of years now, tell us a little about the standard of tennis in Ireland at the moment?
I’ve always thought the standard is high in Ireland, the main difficulty is the cost for players hoping to make it on the professional tour and this can put off a lot of players / parents. Also the lack of ITF Pro Circuit tournaments in Ireland means players have to travel worldwide to pick up points, where many players in other countries can play tournaments in their own countries at first to climb the rankings. Prize money also needs to be spread out more in professional tournaments.
Finally, your website is fantastic and every coach in the world has access to your videos free of charge. How do you market your website and make sure as many people as possible access your site?
Thank you. At the start I would have marketed my website through Facebook. I find now as it is almost two years since I set it up that most people come to my website from organic searches through Google. As a result, I just share my content on social media but don’t feel the need to promote it.
You can visit Robs profile page at https://www.sportsprosconnect.com/robcherry/