making Coaching a career?

[Ryan in Saratoga]

Just wondering if anyone on here is a coach. I myself have been playing for 6 years and i am going to college in 2 years so i need to start thinking career choices. Figured i would ask here since most of you can give the answer to me (unlike my guidence counciler). My question is what is the likelyhood i would be able to be a coach for private lessons or at a club or a private tennis school and make a good living?

[Raiden.Kaminari]

If you live at your parents house in Saratoga, and consider that the norm, then the answer would be, "no."

The typical tennis instructor doesn't make more than 60K a year.

And actually, the lower ranked ATP and WTA players usually don't make 20k a year, if even that much.

[Ryan in Saratoga]

do you mean if i am an older person living in my parents house or do you mean as old as i am living in my parents house (im 17)

[Raiden.Kaminari]

No ... I mean, if you enjoy living in Saratoga as compared to somewhere like East Palo Alto.

To live in Saratoga, your parents have to be making more than $100K. Unless they got the house from their parents.

[Swissv2]

If you are good, you will have a comfortable living as a tennis instructor, but by no means "wealthy". There is a tennis instructor around here that tries to work almost 12 hours a day, all year, and gets paid $35-$40 an hour. You can calculate out how much he potentially makes from those numbers.

Another coach around here gets paid to have a successful collegiate team, and he is comfortable - if not very wealthy.

You will have to become a "star coach" to get the big money.

[Ryan in Saratoga]

Originally Posted by Raiden.Kaminari

No ... I mean, if you enjoy living in Saratoga as compared to somewhere like East Palo Alto.

To live in Saratoga, your parents have to be making more than $100K. Unless they got the house from their parents.

o ok i get what you mean.

I was just wondering if it is possible to make a good living. What is a likelyhood of finding me a job as a coach or instructor that makes $35 or $40 an hour? And where would i most likely find this job? A college? Club? Private school?

And is there like a college to learn to be an instructor?

[goober]

Originally Posted by Ryan in Saratoga

o ok i get what you mean.



And is there like a college to learn to be an instructor?

Check out a college degree in professional tennis management. Probably will give you more options.

http://www.methodist.edu/ptm/

http://www.ferris.edu/cob/ptm/index.cfm

http://www.tjc.edu/tennistech/

[Ryan in Saratoga]

ok thanks for your help.

[Raiden.Kaminari]

Originally Posted by Ryan in Saratoga

o ok i get what you mean.

I was just wondering if it is possible to make a good living. What is a likelyhood of finding me a job as a coach or instructor that makes $35 or $40 an hour? And where would i most likely find this job? A college? Club? Private school?

And is there like a college to learn to be an instructor?

Is that $35 or $40 an hour AFTER the court / club fee? For example, a tennis instructor may charge $60 an hour for a private lesson, but has to pay the court / club (college, etc.) $30 an hour for a court. But the $60 hour pro is usually a pretty experienced, USPTA pro 1 or PTR pro.

You can make a stable income as a tennis director. Problem is, you make more money as a successful tennis instructor.

If you make $35 to $40 an hour, remember this only translates to at most $80K per year, because you won't be able to give lessons all the time assuming you are healthy (at a certain point, your body does break down ... it's called getting old).

I know a tennis pro that developed skin cancer, despite taking precautions. His income dropped severely

[cak]

If you are really from Saratoga, CA, then you might get a kick out of this, I play tennis in Saratoga, but I know my pro lives near me in Los Altos Hills. There is another tennis pro that lives down the street from me. I think you can earn a decent living as a club tennis pro. You might not be making tons of money when you start out, but if you are a good teacher and a good people person you can build a following and bring in good money. If you are organized and can run a tennis program you can get a solid job. And, as my tennis coach points out, you get to choose some of the best places in the world to work. He's worked in the Carribean and Hawaii for many years. He moved to California to be near family. As others have pointed out, it's a physical job and can be hard on the body. In addition, skin cancer is always lurking out there. If you only have outdoor courts to work with, you are at the mercy of the weather, so rainy years are tough. But if it's something you love, the club pros I know really enjoy their work.

[Topaz]

Our club tennis director pulled in 120,000 last year.

[Ryan in Saratoga]

it is definately on my list for something i may want to consider going to college for but it looks like most tennis instructors only are making around $40,000 a year.

[J011yroger]

It depends on where you live, my friends who are club pros make between 25-50/hour depending on experience. I was offered a job starting at 35K/year for the first year, and increasing yearly to 100k/year after 5 years.

Here private lessons are 80-120/hour but I am shocked at how cheap they are in other places around the country.

J

[Nick Irons]

I am currently studying for USPTA Certification and am 37 (Career change). It depends where and how you approach coaching. There are so many different opportunites

Summer camps
High end resorts
upscale country clubs
parks and recreation
childrens after school clinics
private lessons
high school coaching
et al

All of them can (and most usually) are combined. My local club pro isn't in the highest end club in town, but does a combination of Head pro, private lessons and clinics (at the club) and a summer camp (through the parks and recreation) and cleared 'over 75,000' last year.

Not bad considering you're out hitting the ball all day.

[J011yroger]

Nick, I suggest you try to get some part time work in...it isn't like hitting a ball all day, it takes a special type. Not saying that it isn't for you, or you would be bad at it, but it isn't like getting paid to play tennis all day. Some of the stuff you have to deal with are.

1. Small, misbehaved kids, who do not listen to you, and cry for no reason.
2. Older kids who do not want to be taking lessons, and have no aspirations of getting better, and who put forth no effort, and generally just dont give a crap.

This is what pros hate, and we call it babysitting.

3. Your assortment of housewives, hit and giggle players, chronic lesson takers, blah blah blah, they are good people, but are possessed of almost 0 skill or ability, and not willing to practice to get better, so all you end up doing is dead ball drills or tapping the ball back to them in rallies/games.

4. Stubborn people who tell you straight up that they refuse to change their current stroke, they don't care if it is right or wrong, they feel comfortable and are not changing.

5. People with unorthodox/hacker strokes who have been playing that way for 30 years and can play 3.5 or 4.0 and just now decided that they want lessons.

6. The parents of tournament playing juniors.

7. 4.0 players who think they will be in the US open with just a little more practice.

8. The list goes on, and on and on.

Once in a while you get a good player to hit with, or someone who genuinely wants to learn, or good tournament playing juniors whom you can help. But in the beginning, you get stuck with all the little little kids, or the hit and giggle players, or you run drill sessions, and feed balls. Just like any other job, you gotta pay your dues doing the garbage work before you can move up to the fun stuff. And you need to have the type of personality to maintain the look that you are trying and putting forth effort, when it is obvious that your lesson really doesn't give a $#!7.

Like I said, before you dive in, try to get some part time hours, and make sure you have the right personality, because it definately isn't like you get paid to play tennis all day.

J

[NoBadMojo]

There arent very manyTP's who make a good living teaching tennis. Many of them arent even sponsored in any sort of real way. Think it sounds glamorous? It ain't..the hours are awful, it beats up your body, and you have to be able to tolerate all kinds of funky behaviour from people, and if you do it full time for any length of time, the last thing you want to do after work is look at another tennis ball, let alone hit one..the security also aint so great unless you get very lucky, and if you get injured, you're hosed. many have to buy their own health care coverage, insurances, etc. it's a burnout job for many if you do it full time for any sort of duration. There are a billion TP's out here..almost anyone can become a certified TP.....it's all about if you know how to teach or not and know how to/want to play the mind games with owners and members, and that all takes experience....there are plenty of experienced pros already in place taking the few really good jobs, with more waiting in the wings..tennis just isnt very popular and there is a huge glut of teaching pros...however, if you are good looking and ripped and speak with an accent and will do whatever some manager who doesnt know tennis wants you to do, you may be able to do ok for a while..in cases like that, ability to teach tennis often becomes unimportant
Also, dont believe when you hear what TP's make...it's like all those 4.0's claiming to be 5.0's
I only taught full time for maybe 3 years..that was plenty to make me realize I needed to rely on another career, but i've most always taught part time, and that's fun

Originally Posted by goober

Check out a college degree in professional tennis management. Probably will give you more options.

http://www.methodist.edu/ptm/

http://www.ferris.edu/cob/ptm/index.cfm

http://www.tjc.edu/tennistech/

I am the Head USPTA tester for the Hawaii Section. We are ALWAYS looking for energetic, upbeat, caring, etc. professionals and most of all, pros who are thirsty for new knowledge. The game is changing and the newer professionals actually have an advantage with all the new information and techniques out there. I suggest you volunteer or start with the USTA Parks and Rec programs to get your feet wet and then see how you like it.

A coaching career can take many different directions. The landscape is different now. Everyone is becoming specialists in their fields. High Perfomance, Little Tennis, Sports Science, Fitness etc etc. Lastly, and most important, get a mentor. You will need a qualified teacher to help you along the way.

Lee Couillard
Head Tester, USPTA Hawaii Division
Past President, USPTA Hawaii Division
Head Pro, Punahou School
www.ipodtennispros.com

[Ryan in Saratoga]

thanks for all the help. I really appriciate it.

[Nick Irons]

Originally Posted by J011yroger

Nick, I suggest you try to get some part time work in...it isn't like hitting a ball all day, it takes a special type. Not saying that it isn't for you, or you would be bad at it, but it isn't like getting paid to play tennis all day. Some of the stuff you have to deal with are.

1. Small, misbehaved kids, who do not listen to you, and cry for no reason.
2. Older kids who do not want to be taking lessons, and have no aspirations of getting better, and who put forth no effort, and generally just dont give a crap.

This is what pros hate, and we call it babysitting.

3. Your assortment of housewives, hit and giggle players, chronic lesson takers, blah blah blah, they are good people, but are possessed of almost 0 skill or ability, and not willing to practice to get better, so all you end up doing is dead ball drills or tapping the ball back to them in rallies/games.

4. Stubborn people who tell you straight up that they refuse to change their current stroke, they don't care if it is right or wrong, they feel comfortable and are not changing.

5. People with unorthodox/hacker strokes who have been playing that way for 30 years and can play 3.5 or 4.0 and just now decided that they want lessons.

6. The parents of tournament playing juniors.

7. 4.0 players who think they will be in the US open with just a little more practice.

8. The list goes on, and on and on.

Once in a while you get a good player to hit with, or someone who genuinely wants to learn, or good tournament playing juniors whom you can help. But in the beginning, you get stuck with all the little little kids, or the hit and giggle players, or you run drill sessions, and feed balls. Just like any other job, you gotta pay your dues doing the garbage work before you can move up to the fun stuff. And you need to have the type of personality to maintain the look that you are trying and putting forth effort, when it is obvious that your lesson really doesn't give a $#!7.

Like I said, before you dive in, try to get some part time hours, and make sure you have the right personality, because it definately isn't like you get paid to play tennis all day.

J

Way ahead of you; already mentoring 2 days a week and an unpaid 3rd day when my own son takes the childrens clinic !

Your bullet points kind of sum up 'every work situation' as far dealing with non-sense. I've worked in many sectors in my time thus far and all of them have their downsides

It depends on your life outlook and being positive! You wanna know about crazy children ? I also assistant coach my 6 year old sons basketball and little league teams. Aye yae yae.

Don't worry, I'm not going into this with tunnel vision; it's still a job.

Tks for the tips though!

[J011yroger]

OK good to hear. I teach part time, mostly to pay for my playing, but I love helping other who want to get better too. But I don't teach full time, because firstly I am not done playing, and secondly, I have low BS tolerance. Just wanted to make sure you weren't thinking you were gonna get paid to play tennis, and get an unlimited supply of hitting partners to make yourself better.

And god bless you for being able to deal with legions of 6 year olds...I didn't like kids when I was one. When they get a few years on them, they are OK, and if they are serious about tennis, we get along great, but them under 10 ones who think tennis lessons are play time...well in the words of Scotty "I just can't do it cap'n"

J