Tim Henman has been appointed onto the LTA's Performance Advisory Group ©Getty Images

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have announced that Jamie Delgado, Sam Smith and Tim Henman will form a new Performance Advisory Group designed to create a pathway for young players.

The LTA claim the new Performance Advisory Group is the "first major step towards a new 10-year vision for tennis in Great Britain".

The strategy aims to "create a seamless pathway for champions through sport and aims to set new standards for player development".

The LTA hope that the new strategy will make a clear pathway which will help talented players from the age of seven who are playing locally break into the world’s top 100 and achieve tournament success.

It has been designed to allow the best British players to train regularly with specialist coaches and compete at every stage of their development.

It will also focus on the players’ physical and mental wellbeing.

The LTA hope Delgado, who coaches British three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray, Henman, a four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, and Smith, a former British women's number one, will play a vital role in creating this pathway.

The organisation alsoclaim the Performance Advisory Group has been created to help them understand aspiring players and, therefore, better enable them to deliver programmes that will help them fulfill their potential.

Andy Murray's coach Jamie Delgado believes the new Performance Advisory Group set up by the Lawn Tennis Association will help create a pathway for young players from Britain ©Getty Images
Andy Murray's coach Jamie Delgado believes the new Performance Advisory Group set up by the Lawn Tennis Association will help create a pathway for young players from Britain ©Getty Images

LTA Performance director Simon Timson expressed his delight at having Delgado, Smith and Henman on board.

"The success of British players in recent years has given British tennis a huge boost," he said.

"Our priority now is maintaining and building on this success, and that’s why I am thrilled that Jamie, Sam and Tim have agreed to support us in implementing our performance strategy.

"They will play a critical role in helping our performance team understand the perspective of both aspiring and professional tennis players when planning and delivering programmes at every age and stage of the pathway.

"Having their wealth of experience on board will play a key role in helping us meet our ultimate objective of making Great Britain one of the most respected tennis nations in the world for player development."

Delgado added: "A key strand of the LTA performance strategy will be in how we recruit, retain and develop more world-class coaches at every age and stage of the pathway.

"I look forward to sharing my experience in that process."