Marvin Bramble, Tennis Professional, Conditioning expert:

Hello Barbican members, I would like to introduce myself formally as your new tennis professional, providing on-court lessons, fitness advice, rehabilitation forums and nutritional guidelines. I have been teaching tennis for fifteen years and this has enabled me to become an experienced professional. I’m a Hackney kid by birth and nurture and have deep West Indian roots, which will explain as to why my favourite dish is ‘Oxtail and boiled dumplings’.  We can discuss this in greater depth as we become more familiar. I attended Raines Foundation School in Bethnal Green and then moved on to Barnet College.

Sport has always been an integral part of my life and something that I have excelled in since a child. I have earned international honours in the Triple Jump and Basketball and this is an achievement that I am very proud of. There are many reasons for this but the main culprit is the amount of ‘dedication’ I showed during these years. Believe me, you need it, dark nights, horrible sessions and lack of praise means having a level of resolve that goes far beyond my vocabulary to explain. However, these experiences, tribulations and ultimately achievements have helped to develop me into a coach who is balanced, organised and stylish. Tennis is a sport that you should try to develop not master, if you try to master it you will join a massive heap of frustrated people, who are now, instead of wielding a racket, joining choirs to try and salvage their souls. But if you try and develop your tennis gradually and dedicate enough time to practice you will join a renaissance club with people wielding rackets and playing competent rallies with consummate ease. I am always learning, and in my opinion, every day is a school day, therefore we will develop together.

My teaching style is a ‘teacher led’ style. This involves me determining the aims, selecting the methods of practice and then applying specific drills to help with your learning. It is important to set goals, whether technical, tactical or physical and it is my job to make sure that each person sets goals that are congruent with their abilities and not with their confidence levels. The benefits of this will be that you will engage in your practice with more thought and learn to evaluate and correct errors within yourself.    My playing style is ‘serve and volley’ and my favourite player is Stefan Edberg. I have spent years trying to replica my game to his, this hasn’t gone as well as I would have liked because I have not won Wimbledon. However, I keep on trying and it’s the dedication (and lots of hope) that keep me going.

In closing, Tennis is a wonderful sport and I am very fortunate to be able to teach it for a living. The truth is I love all sports, well maybe not darts, but all the others and I take coaching ideas from other sports to better my own coaching. Hopefully this will benefit the people who sign up to my tuition and make my tennis experience unique and worthwhile.  Remember, “you feel the way you think and you act the way you feel” Be positive and ready to develop and everything will progress from there. Look forward to meeting you soon,

Marvin Bramble