JohnYandell
Hall of Fame
pc,
You are describing a large number of students I see at the clubs I belong to. The factor that we need to understand is the relationship between teacher and student. I am not saying students are paying coaches to be their friends, but a lot of students just enjoy the personal interaction. "Bob" is their guy. Bob has status. Bob hits the ball better than I do. Bob hits me a stream of great, easy to hit balls so I don't really have to worry about carrying my end of exchanges. And I love shiny high end new equipment--sometimes just looking at it or touching it... Actually there is nothing wrong with all this if it works for both parties. The only hard part is listening if the student needs to talk to you about what he is learning and how much he has improved, etc.
You are describing a large number of students I see at the clubs I belong to. The factor that we need to understand is the relationship between teacher and student. I am not saying students are paying coaches to be their friends, but a lot of students just enjoy the personal interaction. "Bob" is their guy. Bob has status. Bob hits the ball better than I do. Bob hits me a stream of great, easy to hit balls so I don't really have to worry about carrying my end of exchanges. And I love shiny high end new equipment--sometimes just looking at it or touching it... Actually there is nothing wrong with all this if it works for both parties. The only hard part is listening if the student needs to talk to you about what he is learning and how much he has improved, etc.