Reflective analysis of indoor mini-court tennis coaching: Challenges in developing ball landing perception among intermediate recreational players

Abstract

Indoor mini-court tennis facilities have expanded rapidly in South Korea in the post-COVID period, providing practical solutions for training under spatial and logistical constraints. While scaled practice environments are widely regarded as beneficial for early skill acquisition, considerably less attention has been paid to how reduced court dimensions shape perceptual learning demands for intermediate recreational players transitioning toward full-court performance. In particular, the development of outcome perception related to ball landing and depth judgment remains underexplored within contemporary tennis coaching literature. This study presents a qualitative reflective autoethnographic analysis of indoor mini-court tennis coaching practice, focusing on perceived challenges in supporting perceptual learning among intermediate players. The analysis draws on systematized reflective notes written immediately following coaching sessions conducted between 2023 and 2025 in reduced-size indoor court environments. These reflections documented recurring coaching situations, instructional decisions, and perceived tensions between technical correction and perceptual feedback. Data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis involving repeated familiarization, iterative coding, theme development, and ongoing refinement to ensure analytic transparency and coherence. Three interrelated themes were identified. First, reduced court dimensions were perceived to constrain outcome perception, with intermediate players showing difficulty calibrating depth-related judgments and anticipating ball landing locations in ways that transfer to full-court play. Second, learning responses to mini-court environments differed by skill level: while simplified settings appeared to support engagement and task success for beginners, intermediate players adapted quickly to spatial constraints yet demonstrated limited progression in perceptual calibration over time. Third, coaches experienced persistent dilemmas in balancing technical instruction and perceptual feedback, as reduced-size environments tended to foreground immediately observable technical adjustments while complicating efforts to scaffold outcome-focused perception. These findings suggest that indoor mini-court environments may offer both practical advantages and pedagogical limitations. For intermediate players, reduced-size courts appear most effective when used selectively and aligned with explicit perceptual learning objectives rather than relied upon as a primary training environment. By foregrounding coaching reflection as a source of pedagogical insight, this study contributes practice-informed perspectives to sport pedagogy and tennis coaching research, while acknowledging the context-bound and non-generalizable nature of reflective analysis.