Stigmatized, Marginalized, Celebrated: Developments in Lawn Tennis Coaching, 1870–1939

Abstract

This paper examines the numerous changes to the role, influence, professional standards and general social status of coaches and the vocation of coaching in lawn tennis, focusing predominantly on the inter-war years. It was during this time, generally, when lawn tennis clubs became more open and democratic in their memberships, and when elite-level tennis came to embrace more profoundly the ethos of professionalism. As such, the recognized value and esteem of coaches at both levels increased, which led to advances in the vocation of coaching practices across the sport. These developments are analysed in the light of wider social processes, most notably the widespread and influential class struggles of the twentieth century, which characterized taken-for-granted assumptions about how sport should be played and who should play it. The debate between amateurs and professionals is at the heart of developments in coaching, and forms the central issue in this paper. This article commences with an investigation of lawn tennis from the 1870s until the First World War, and then goes on to consider areas of progress with regard to coaching and areas of continuing inequality. The period after the Second World War is discussed briefly, when attitudes toward professionalism softened further in all areas, despite the considerable delay in not initiating ‘open tennis’ until 1968. Testimony from players throughout these eras reveals the fundamental importance of coaching to achieving success amid the continued hypocrisy of adopting professional standards under the veil of being an amateur, or in some cases ‘shamateur’.