PPTA group of certified professionals grows

PPTA President Gary Horvath provided the update:

In 1998, a group of the country’s top teaching professionals met in Chicago to lay the groundwork for the USA Professional Platform Tennis Association (PPTA). Since then, the PPTA has developed a certification process that provides professionals with an initial rating at one of three levels (P1, P2, or P3) based on their performance on a battery of tests. In a nutshell, the PPTA certification exam includes a written examination covering all aspects of the game, an on-court examination of teaching skills, a feeding skills test, and a playing evaluation.

As those who have taken the test will testify, the process is comprehensive. The written exam is heavily weighted towards the topics of teaching and strategy, but requires knowledge of teaching concepts and principles, tactics, business, stroke and strategy diagnostics of photographed match play, grips, rules, size of the court, philosophy and mission of the PPTA/APTA, code, equipment, history, and court maintenance.

In addition, each applicant is asked to teach both a private and a group lesson on topics (strategy, techniques, positioning, wire shots) specific to platform tennis.

Because feeding is an important part of teaching, the applicants are also evaluated on their ability to consistently feed for net shots, screen shots, basic strokes, service returns, and serve-and-volleys. Finally, the applicants are rated on their playing skills.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 4, March, 2001 and Vol. 2 Issue 5 May, 2001