Tennis coaching in China before and during COVID-19. The mediatisation of a precarious profession

ABSTRACT

In China, due to the large-scale lockdowns and strict prevention policies of COVID-19, Chinese tennis coaches have started to open a new front of their career by offering online tennis training on social media platforms. This study introduces mediatisation theory as a theoretical framework to investigate the mediatisation process of tennis coaching on social media platforms in China. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to analyse three dimensions of Chinese tennis coaches' professional and living conditions: the career trajectory of tennis coaches, the mediatisation of the profession of tennis coaching, and the financial crisis faced by tennis clubs and the tennis industry. We monitored the BiliBili channels of the most popular tennis vloggers on BiliBili and analysed their media practices. We also collected data from job search websites and conducted in-depth interviews with 30 Chinese tennis coaches. The findings are as follows: The new approach has gradually gained the support of coaches thanks to its advantages such as flexibility, accessibility, self-promotion and marketing strategies. The mediatisation of tennis training has accelerated the popularisation of tennis in China, as have relevant government regulations regarding self-promotion platforms.

KEYWORDS:

• Tennis
• China
• mediatistion
• COVID-19
• digital methods

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Shanghai Master, the China Open and all international tennis tournaments normally held in China, have been suspended for the last 3 years.

2 CNKI owns a system called China Integrated Knowledge Resources System including academic publications and other sources.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Giovannipaolo Ferrari

Giovannipaolo Ferrari is a sociologist and linguist. He is a lecturer in Digital methods and Sociology of sport at DISUFF (Department of Humanities, Philosophy and Education), University of Salerno. His research interests focus on digital methods for social research, sports studies and public sociology.

Paolo Diana

Paolo Diana is an Associate Professor at the University of Salerno at DISUFF (Department of Humanities, Philosophy and Education), where he teaches Digital methods, Research methods, Sociology of sport and Sociology of health. His research activities are mainly related to the following areas: sport, digital methods, immigration, opinion and attitudinal surveys, youth socialisation into legality, local development, e-learning and ICT, prisoner education, digital knowledge and complexity.

Yingxin Tan

Yingxin Tan is a PhD student at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padua, Italy. Her research interests include intercultural studies, new media communication studies and second generation Chinese immigrants in Italy.