Exploring the Prerequisites for the Activation of Youth Tennis

Objectives This study was conducted with the aim of exploring and analyzing the essential conditions for the activation of youth tennis. Methods The study was conducted with 30 stakeholders related to youth tennis in 2024. Data collection was carried out through individual in-depth interviews with the research participants, followed by analysis and organization. For data analysis, inductive category analysis and constant comparative analysis techniques were applied. Results The study identified three major domains essential for the activation of youth tennis: first, the "improvement of policies ensuring the right to learn"; second, "securing the connectivity of player development"; and third, "tailored coach development." These major domains were further subdivided into a total of eight subcategories. The "improvement of policies ensuring the right to learn" emerged as the most significant domain, accounting for 58.6% of the total responses, with 254 responses collected. This domain consists of three subcategories: ensuring the rights of student-athletes (126 responses, 29.1%), improving the minimum academic standards policy (78 responses, 18.0%), and establishing field-oriented policies (50 responses, 11.5%). The second most important domain, "securing the connectivity of player development," accounted for 20.8% of the total responses (90 responses) and was divided into two subcategories: grassroots player development (53 responses, 12.3%) and the willingness of associations to improve (37 responses, 8.5%). Lastly, "tailored coach development" represented 20.5% (89 responses) of the total responses and was classified into three subcategories: age-specific coach education (32 responses, 7.4%), clear communication methods (31 responses, 7.2%), and enhancing coaching competencies (26 responses, 6.0%). Conclusions It suggests that the activation of youth tennis requires essential elements such as policy improvements, the establishment of a systematic player development system, and the enhancement of professional coaches' competencies.