For Olly Tyndall it all started with a Christmas present, in the latest Inside Coaching feature we take a look at his journey into coaching, and what opportunities it has lead to, including a full-time Head Coach role at Grantham College, as well as many opportunities to coach on various camps and programmes including DiSE, England Hope’s Squad, Angby International Training Camp.

“When I was ten, my grandad bought me and my brother a table for the garage for Christmas. We were so competitive that we played almost everyday,” Olly explained.

That passion quickly turned into a journey. After finding a local club in Gloucester, his interest and level progressed rapidly, climbing the rankings and travelling to compete. By the age of 12, he earned his way into the England pathway. Determined to reach the next level, at only 16, Olly made the decision to attend Grantham College and combine his studies with full time table tennis practice where he had access to high-performance coaching and up to 25 hours of practice each week.

Olly had passed his level one and level two coaching courses at the time but his focus was solely on his playing career, competing in the Belgian league. After his time at Grantham, Olly moved on to Archway Peterborough, as a full time player. Transitioning into being a full time player at any age can be difficult, especially at just 16. Moving away from home, Olly was the first to admit he had his struggles, leading to his passion for playing fading, whilst discovering a new interest.

“Over my time at the academies I didn’t maximise my opportunity or always conduct myself in the best way as a player, which made me think a lot about myself and my playing career,” he adds.

“As a full time player, I discovered I still had love for table tennis but did not want to push my journey of being a player any further, so I took up coaching in local Peterborough schools delivering the Table Tennis England TT Kidz scheme. From there I found a love of improving players, getting children to have fun playing the sport I have always loved.”

During Covid that he made the decision to depart Archway and return Grantham, to complete a HND Sport course, combining running training sessions at partner school Charles Read Academy, whilst assisting head coach Vidal Graham with corner coaching at competitions. When a vacancy of assistant coach arose, Olly applied with no expectation of being successful.

Given the opportunity, Olly felt like he wanted to give back to both the academy and the players, and shared with us the lessons he learnt during his time as a player at the very academy, now used was to inspire and improve the next generation of talent.

“Once I got the job, I felt like I wanted to correct my time at the college,” he continues. “I didn’t maximise my time and to correct my mistakes I wanted to make sure players had constant communication with coaches and their games, but also bring fun to practice and their lives whilst maintaining a high performance in their training and table tennis games.”

Olly, now the current Head Coach of the academy, has to date helped create some extremely talented players, achieving many National titles as a coach and helping develop players selected for Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and European Championships.

Whilst titles and selections are an amazing achievement, it is the commitment and effort of the players and staff, combined with the camaraderie amongst the academy, created within an individual sport, that Olly reflected on being a huge success,

“Over time we created a great group of players and young people that have all competed at a high level, and that’s down to the commitment level of the players and the staff involved with the academy.

“For me, I really enjoy coaching the players as it is so rewarding. Especially when you have spent all season working hard on correcting weaknesses, to see players overcome challenges, battle out their hard times and get the reward, clinching a title or a big victory.

“The team camaraderie within our group is also great. Other players being happy to see their teammates be successful, which is amazing in such an individual sport, and that is what keeps me happy and continues to drive me in what can be a difficult role.”

Olly shared two important tips to any coaches looking to learn from fellow coaches in the community; focused around continuing to learn and the importance of confidence as a coach,

“Don’t think you know everything, you always have things to learn”.

“It is impossible to keep everyone happy in all aspects of the sport, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Believe in your coaching and trust the process that the players you work with will improve.”

Develop your coaching skills by taking part in one of three upcoming online CPD sessions, organised by the Table Tennis England Coach Development Team, including Periodisation, Session Planning & Creating Drills, and Mental Skills. There is also an upcoming in person CPD training day based in the South West, for you to take your coaching to the next level.