The understanding of coaches’ knowledge plays a critical role in coach development. This study aimed to examine the internal models of expert and novice tennis coaches and to identify the key distinguishing characteristics between levels. Data was captured by in-depth interviews and analysed using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The results revealed that the internal model consisted of seven components including the “functionality” component that has not been reported previously. A significant difference was detected only in three components of the internal model: “reasoning chains”, “concepts” and “key flexion points”. The findings led to the conclusion that the main attribute of tennis coaching expertise is not pure technical knowledge but rather the perception of technique as a whole movement and the ability to understand the connection between technical elements. The findings provide a valuable contribution to tennis coach development as it can be applied in coach education to facilitate novice coach development processes.

对教练知识的理解在教练发展中起着至关重要的作用。这项研究旨在检查专家级和新手网球教练的内部模型，并确定各个级别之间的关键区别特征。数据是通过深入访谈来捕获的，并使用定性和定量方法相结合的方法进行了分析。结果表明，内部模型由七个组件组成，其中包括以前未报告的“功能”组件。仅在内部模型的三个组件中检测到显着差异：“推理链”，“概念”和“关键屈曲点”。这些发现得出结论，网球教练专业知识的主要属性不是纯粹的技术知识，而是对技术作为整体运动的理解以及对技术元素之间联系的理解能力。这些发现可为网球教练的发展提供宝贵的贡献，因为它可用于网球教练的教育，以促进新手教练的发展过程。