**Michele 'Miki' Puccioni**

Senior Club Coach

**Michele 'Miki' Puccioni**

Senior Club Coach

After a degree in philosophy and many years as a foreign correspondent, I rediscovered the game and found joy, purpose and an inexplicable sense of wholeness while on court. That feeling inspired a new direction: coaching.

Since earning my first qualification in 2013, I’ve been driven to help people of all ages and abilities enjoy their game. I gained my LTA Level 4 Senior Club Coach accreditation in 2018 under the mentorship of Mark Tennant, the acclaimed founder of Inspire2Coach. But while I had the technical and tactical knowledge, I noticed a critical gap in tennis coaching: the mental and emotional side.

I see tennis as more than a sport. It's self-expression through movement, it's freedom. I see tennis as a fantastic dance.

I see tennis as self-expression, an act of freedom.

I see tennis as a fantastic dance.

After a degree in philosophy and many years as a foreign correspondent, I rediscovered the game and found joy, purpose and an inexplicable sense of wholeness while on court. That feeling inspired a new direction: coaching.

Since earning my first qualification in 2013 I’ve been driven to help people of all ages and abilities enjoy their game, and in 2018 I achieved LTA Level 4 Senior Club Coach under the inspiring mentorship of Mark Tennant. Despite the by now vast wealth of knowledge, I still noticed a critical gap in the mental side of tennis coaching, where I feel coaches are provided with very limited tools.

After a degree in philosophy and many years as a foreign correspondent, I rediscovered the game and found joy, purpose and an inexplicable sense of wholeness while on court. That feeling inspired a new direction: coaching.

Since earning my first qualification in 2013 I’ve been driven to help people of all ages and abilities enjoy their game, and in 2018 I achieved LTA Level 4 Senior Club Coach in 2018 under the inspiring mentorship of Mark Tennant. Despite the increased knowledge, I still noticed a critical gap in the mental and emotional side of tennis coaching, where I felt I had been provided with very limited tools.

I see tennis as self-expression, an act of freedom.

I see tennis as a fantastic dance.

Determined to bridge it, I studied Sport Psychology and Psychotherapeutic Skills and discovered Gestalt, an experiential, holistic theory known as "the science of the here and now".

I saw huge potential for tennis. Working with the Florence Gestalt Institute and Dr. Lucia Berdondini of UEL, I began blending Gestalt principles into my coaching. The results were powerful - players responded with energy, clarity, and confidence.