first time giving lessons, advice appreciated

[yonexpurestorm]

so the other day i was playing on my housing association's court and a lady from one of houses near the court said she has seen me play there a lot and asked if i could give her lessons. i said sure and we set a lesson for next tues. i have never given lessons before, but have been playing tennis all my life and know quite a bit about technique, grips, equipment, form, footwork etc. i took lessons when i was really young so i dont remember any of it.

i was hoping i could get some advice on where to start and maybe what drills to do. if theres any other coaches/teachers out there i would appreciate any input. she seems to be very new to tennis. i havent seen her play, but she told me she is going to join a club and take lessons to get a start and then eventually take lessons at the club. since i enjoy playing tennis and dont mind helping her i said id give her a few lessons for a good price.

 

[Comet Buster]

Start with the footwork. The first thing I got taught was the most basic thing; Move your feet. Go from there pretty much.

 

[SoBad]

You'll be fine - charge her usd50/hr to start, and tell her she didn't move her feet or wasn't watching the ball whenever she hits bad. Try to convey confidence and sexualisation the whole time.

 

[Tennis Is Magic]

so the other day i was playing on my housing association's court and a lady from one of houses near the court said she has seen me play there a lot and asked if i could give her lessons. i said sure and we set a lesson for next tues. i have never given lessons before, but have been playing tennis all my life and know quite a bit about technique, grips, equipment, form, footwork etc. i took lessons when i was really young so i dont remember any of it.

i was hoping i could get some advice on where to start and maybe what drills to do. if theres any other coaches/teachers out there i would appreciate any input. she seems to be very new to tennis. i havent seen her play, but she told me she is going to join a club and take lessons to get a start and then eventually take lessons at the club. since i enjoy playing tennis and dont mind helping her i said id give her a few lessons for a good price.

Well, first you should get a feel for what she wants to get out of the lesson, get a feel for her skill level, and just give her some pointers. Is she a total beginner, or if she has some idea of what she's doing, and try to go from there.

If she's a total beginner, I'd recommend very basic drills. Show her how to hold her racquet, show her how to take her racquet back, and to bring it up to her shoulder. Do that for forehand and backhand (I would strongly suggest showing her a 2hbh). A drill I like to show beginners is the tossing drill. You basically just throw the ball in the same motion you would use to hit groundstrokes with. Have her toss the ball from her right hand to your right hand, and bring her arm up over her left shoulder (left hand to left hand, finish over right shoulder if she's left handed). On the backhand side, have her toss the ball backhanded to your adjacent side with the off-hand, and have her hold on to her off-wrist with her strong hand. These motions very closely mimic hitting groundstrokes, and help develop good muscle memory. You should drop a few balls in front of her and have her hit them. Even with beginners who really shouldn't be hitting balls, people wanna hit balls. Let her see that what you've shown her is improving her game, she should be happy with that, and it builds confidence in her that she will improve and you as a coach, which means she will listen more when you talk. The most important thing about coaching tennis players is they have to respect your opinion or they will tune you out.

If she's not a beginner, this is where your personal judgement will come into play, regarding what to work on. Think of any way to simplify the motions of a tennis shot to a motion she might make in everyday life or in a way that's very easy to imagine. If you can do that, and portray it in a way that's easy to understand and work on, create an encouraging environment, and make it fun, you will be a very good coach.

 

[ProgressoR]

If i was a student, just starting out, and my coach focussed on footwork before i could hit the ball with any measure of confidence, i would not go back for a second lesson.

reminds me of when i started driving, the first lesson, the guy talked for 59 minutes then let me switch the engine on and move forward 10 yards. Then the lesson was over.

 

[Xizel]

If i was a student, just starting out, and my coach focussed on footwork before i could hit the ball with any measure of confidence, i would not go back for a second lesson.

reminds me of when i started driving, the first lesson, the guy talked for 59 minutes then let me switch the engine on and move forward 10 yards. Then the lesson was over.

Agreed. It's one thing to teach with long term success in mind and another to teach while keeping the interest of the client.

I'd show her basic footwork with a limited time frame in mind. Show her the strokes off both wings, then hit with her. Don't overdo the technical aspects. Let her have fun and slowly modify any incorrect mechanics. She's bound to enjoy tennis and the lesson if you just teach her how to consistently get the ball over the net and have an actual rally. After that, if she wants to be a better player and be more competitive, she can further seek that.

 

[fuzz nation]

I like to warm up with most folks by doing some mini tennis where we knock the ball to each other from up at our service lines. That gives me a good idea of what this student knows about using a split-step, turning to either side, and using their feet to move through the ball. It's also easy to spot other things like whether the right grip is being used.

Newer players who aren't ready to sustain a regular rally yet can benefit from lots of feeds and I prefer to hand feed these students while standing on their side of the net, but half way between the service line and the net. The hand feeds can be especially consistent and low pace. This method makes it easy to work on shots from in close instead of from the other end of the court, but be careful to have them hit away from you.

Once you've got a student doing okay with a shot, you want to keep them working at the limits of their skills. When direct feeds get easy, introduce movement by feeding to where she needs to take a step or two, hit, and recover. Some feeds can also be higher bouncing balls that demand more deliberate setup with extra shuffle steps for good positioning.

One of my favorite things to do with students who have a lot to learn is give them a "license to miss". I learned this idea from Vic Braden. If a player understands that they must miss lots of shots as a fundamental part of their learning process, they're less likely to get discouraged. Get the initial focus on good consistent contact before even worrying about where the shots go; that can get dialed in later without too much trouble.

No crime in having more ideas, drills, progressions, games, etc. ready to go for a given session than you'll actually have time to use. This over-planning is great for when one idea or direction is a bust and you need to change things up. Do your best to communicate and also listen, but keep things going so that the sessions are productive.

 

[goran_ace]

honestly, it sounds like you know enough to be dangerous but not enough to be helpful. the most professional thing you could do is refer her to someone else.

 

[KenC]

honestly, it sounds like you know enough to be dangerous but not enough to be helpful. the most professional thing you could do is refer her to someone else.

Sounds mean, but this is very good advice. Too many people start out with coaches that aren't really qualified to teach and lose interest in the game due to frustration.

People often come up to me to understand how to hit the 1HBH. I first tell them that I learned my 1HBH from great coaches and it took me quite a long time with them to get it to be reliable in a match situation. I'll then show them the proper mechanics but continue to push the need to go to a qualified coach who knows how to break bad habits, induce the right form and slowly build the backhand into a reliable shot. In fact, I always give just one lesson, which is centered around me saying I am not a qualified teaching coach and if they are really serious about becoming better at tennis they should find one.

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

honestly, it sounds like you know enough to be dangerous but not enough to be helpful. the most professional thing you could do is refer her to someone else.

100% correct. If it was his kid or other family member, what the heck, go for it. But teaching another adult is probably not the thing to do for someone who has never coached anyone before.

 

[nabrug]

so the other day i was playing on my housing association's court and a lady from one of houses near the court said she has seen me play there a lot and asked if i could give her lessons. i ........
tennis and dont mind helping her i said id give her a few lessons for a good price.

Maybe get a teaching degree first???

 

[Cindysphinx]

If i was a student, just starting out, and my coach focussed on footwork before i could hit the ball with any measure of confidence, i would not go back for a second lesson.

reminds me of when i started driving, the first lesson, the guy talked for 59 minutes then let me switch the engine on and move forward 10 yards. Then the lesson was over.

On two occasions, I have been practicing alone in the park and women have come up to me to ask if I give lessons. Just shows you how much most non-players know, if they would mistake a 3.5 middle-aged woman with a teaching pro.

Anyway, I like the advice about hand-feeding and hitting from the service line. I would add that you don't want to do any of that for a long time. It gets boring, and the student will be eager to see if any of it works in practice.

The other thing I would suggest is that you hit baseline to baseline with her after a short warm-up. From a student's perspective, it feels weird to have someone begin a lesson with the new student without ever seeing them play. It feels a little disrespectful, you know? As though the pro is saying, "I can tell by looking at you that you totally suck and don't know a thing." It also feels like the pro is doing some one-size-fits-all lesson that he uses on every student, as he clearly has no idea what this new student does wrong because he never saw her hit.

Finally, I see no problem with your giving lessons, provided your price is half or less of what pros in your area charge. Not everyone can afford the services of a quality pro. OP is certainly better than no pro, IMHO.

Cindy -- who would love to find a hitting partner at half the cost of her teaching pro

 

[nabrug]

OP is certainly better than no pro, IMHO.

That is the big question.

 

[slice bh compliment]

That's awesome. Be aware that many seasoned pros would be humble enough to admit they wish they could go back in time and refund their first two month's earnings to the original students.

As a first-time tennis instructor, just hit with her and do not charge her.
I like the idea of consulting with the student first. Off court is best. Get a feel for what she wants. Then on the court while you are rallying, get a feel for what she'll be able to do at this stage. Just call the first day a consultation.

On that first day, I think you ought to just rally with her for 30 minutes and then make a list together of stuff to work on. Feed her some balls and learn what she does well and not so well.

Then get into actual instruction on the second day, after she's gotten a chance to practice with a wall or a ball machine.

Doing it right, approaching it with humility and a love for learning will lead to a good student/teacher relationship. Then you start charging a good hourly rate. Who knows? That might lead to a lot of improvement (for both) and a lot of referrals...and a start towards getting certified one day!

 

[dozu]

If i was a student, just starting out, and my coach focussed on footwork before i could hit the ball with any measure of confidence, i would not go back for a second lesson.

reminds me of when i started driving, the first lesson, the guy talked for 59 minutes then let me switch the engine on and move forward 10 yards. Then the lesson was over.

you took lessons for driving?

isn't it just turning the key to ON and then stepping on the gas?

 

[yonexpurestorm]

im pretty sure i have enough experience to give her some lessons and not neet do refer her to another coach or pro. i think i am going to just start by asking her what she wants out of the lessons and what she feels she needs to work on. ill then hit baseline to baseline for 5-10 minutes to see what i am working with. if she is really a beginner i will probably do the ball toss from her side of the court. if not ill probably feed her some ball. either way i will show her the proper grip, backswing, weight transfer, footwork and follow through. im not even going to try and start with serving. i am only going to charge 20 an hr because i know its my first time giving lessons so i think that is a fair price.

and if anyone wants to see how i play there is a short video of me playing in this forum.

 

[fuzz nation]

isn't it just turning the key to ON and then stepping on the gas?

Sounds like a good description of the typical rally between a couple of high school boys who only want to hit the ball like a rock star. HA!

 

[Cindysphinx]

im pretty sure i have enough experience to give her some lessons and not neet do refer her to another coach or pro. i think i am going to just start by asking her what she wants out of the lessons and what she feels she needs to work on. ill then hit baseline to baseline for 5-10 minutes to see what i am working with. if she is really a beginner i will probably do the ball toss from her side of the court. if not ill probably feed her some ball. either way i will show her the proper grip, backswing, weight transfer, footwork and follow through. im not even going to try and start with serving. i am only going to charge 20 an hr because i know its my first time giving lessons so i think that is a fair price.

and if anyone wants to see how i play there is a short video of me playing in this forum.

I would hire you for $20/hour. More than fair.

Good luck!!!

 

[martini1]

so the other day i was playing on my housing association's court and a lady from one of houses near the court said she has seen me play there a lot and asked if i could give her lessons. i said sure and we set a lesson for next tues. i have never given lessons before, but have been playing tennis all my life and know quite a bit about technique, grips, equipment, form, footwork etc. i took lessons when i was really young so i dont remember any of it.

i was hoping i could get some advice on where to start and maybe what drills to do. if theres any other coaches/teachers out there i would appreciate any input. she seems to be very new to tennis. i havent seen her play, but she told me she is going to join a club and take lessons to get a start and then eventually take lessons at the club. since i enjoy playing tennis and dont mind helping her i said id give her a few lessons for a good price.

Youtube is your friend. You'll find tons of material with a few key strokes.

 

[Dreamer]

Since she's paying for lessons. It's your responsibility to become well educated.
Go through fundamentals and see where she can use improvement. Don't try to do too much in one lesson. Focus on one thing.

I would warm her up, then do feeding, see where her game is at and jump off from there. It's good to have an idea of certain things you can work on. Learn some drills. Get some cones. Have fun with it

 

[Tarrantennis]

Don't overteach.
The same thing happened to me when I was about 21 - 3 years after being a county junior and 3 away from being a senior one. I bounced about 3 balls and gave a tip. Then 3 more and another tip, and so on. It was classic rubbish.
First thing for you to do is to hit with the pupil. A ten minute assessment minimum, and more if she can play a little. Let her hit and she'll probably improve just doing this.
Then maybe find 2 strokes max to work on, and give two tips maximum the most. Or even just spend the whole hour saying well played, hit it in front, and watch the ball.
If you want her to come back she has to enjoy it. And if she enjoys it, and comes back, she'll improve.

 

[yonexpurestorm]

so i gave the lesson last night. it went good and she wants to do one lesson a week which is perfect for me and will help pay for my tournaments. i basically just asked her how much tennis experience she had. she had none. never played before, but her coworkers and play and wanted to join them. i basically hit a few ball to her to see where she was at. she was actually pretty good. she was able to hit the ball on the sweetspot pretty consistently. i first told her to get her feet set and then swing. so we focused on her feet for 10 min. then i told her to let the racquet kinda swing itself and have it end up near her shoulder and we did this for about 10 min. then i told her to not worry where the ball went, but watch the ball hit the strings to make sure to hit the sweet spot. then we took a little water break and i explained some of the rules and scoring stuff. then for the last 20 mins i told her to try and focus and put all three things together while hitting. she definately improved and had a good time.

 

[nereis]

The way I teach kids is to have them be hitting forehand volleys and forehand groundstrokes for at least several months so that they can learn to dial in on the ball properly. Then after that is a slice backhand and maybe a slice serve. Topspin backhands shouldnt even be a topic until they can maintain a forehand to forehand ralley of at least 50 shots.

 

[slice bh compliment]

First things first: I like to teach my friends both kinds of tweeners. Then we cover the Bucharest backfire. When I know they have mastered those, we move to other basic shots like the BH overhead smash, the half-volley and the behind-the-back shot. This is the foundation of my game, so they need to learn that first.

From there, we start the next phase: the one-handed topspin BH lob with violent topspin. I call this the motherform of all shots. Once they have that, it's onto the BH drive (one hand, then maybe two, if it's a petite lady).

After that, we do the Oscar Wegner forehand. Nice late preparation with a western grip, then kind of a sideways wipe. It's best to really get no weight shift into this one....and finish nice and compact, barely over the shoulder.

Then we cover the volley. Forehand grip, babay, all the way. Forehands on both sides. Left-handed forehands, too, so that's 3 forehands. That'll take at least 20 minutes Then overheads and serves, which are the same thing. I try to teach slice, but first, I require that they buy one of those western grips first.

Yeah, it's been successful. All my friends play and they say I'm a great teacher because I crush them all, all the time!

 

[TennisCoachFLA]

The way I teach kids is to have them be hitting forehand volleys and forehand groundstrokes for at least several months so that they can learn to dial in on the ball properly. Then after that is a slice backhand and maybe a slice serve. Topspin backhands shouldnt even be a topic until they can maintain a forehand to forehand ralley of at least 50 shots.

Perhaps thats what you do but there is no real basis for it. Many successful systems like the Spanish system, Rick Macci, and myself teach all the strokes before the kids rally. Hand fed and racquet fed drills are used. Technique is drilled over and over.

In our experience the kids should rally later, not sooner. Most will resort to bad technique. Its not unusually to have talented kids drill and be fed for years before they actually would worry about "50 stroke forehand rallies". We teach the footwork, stroke patterns, and all the shots using proper feeds.

Our method is the exact opposite of yours, but if it works for you fantastic. I know our system works, current D-1 players have been developed with our method. And of course the Spanish system and Macci records speak for themselves.

 

[slice bh compliment]

Good points, TC FLA. I'm a big believer in the hand-feed, especially when I work on technique on tweeners. Then rallying comes after.

In all seriousness, yes, mucho love and support for the RPT/TC FLA/FET methods. I've always loved the hand-feeds to help a beginner judge space and time, develop strong footwork and recovery patterns, feeling theball and hitting with spins, body awareness, etc. It really helps to be close to the student, and use good touch/feel as we deliver the hand-fed ball with a catered feed. All of this fosters great technique.

Rallying comes soon after, I mean, soon enough, once they have some fundamentals.

I love it when I see beginners with nice feel around the half-court..using fairly full strokes and some spin/control.

 

[BevelDevil]

Anyone ever use a t-ball like ball holder to teach? I think it would be a nice way to teach footwork and contact point while keeping it fun.

honestly, it sounds like you know enough to be dangerous but not enough to be helpful. the most professional thing you could do is refer her to someone else.

Sounds mean, but this is very good advice. Too many people start out with coaches that aren't really qualified to teach and lose interest in the game due to frustration.

100% correct. If it was his kid or other family member, what the heck, go for it. But teaching another adult is probably not the thing to do for someone who has never coached anyone before.

So how should one get into coaching? Someone's gotta be the first student...

You'll be fine - charge her usd50/hr to start, and tell her she didn't move her feet or wasn't watching the ball whenever she hits bad. Try to convey confidence and sexualisation the whole time.

Like.

 

[slice bh compliment]

Anyone ever use a t-ball like ball holder to teach? I think it would be a nice way to teach footwork and contact point while keeping it fun.....

I used tees years ago, to establish good stroke models and some feel for the contact. The kids liked them, but I wasn't a fan after a while.

Then I got the thing called Practice Hit from the OnctOffct site. Love 'em. I still have one or two in my garage. One of my sons loves that thing. Hits it with a racquet, with his feet, with his bare hands. So fun, even for intermediate/advanced players.

I hear they have another one now that's even better and it's rock solid rather than plastic.
Not quite as good as hand-feeds, but, definitely a good tool.

EDIT:
I can see adults preferring a live ball, though.

Anyway, good luck with the lessons!

 

[ProgressoR]

when working on strokes, i like to be told only one or max two things to work on, else you end up thinking too much and everything goes wrong. When that one or two things is are sorted, then work on the next thing.

Mind you I am quite simple.

 

[Ash_Smith]

^^^Nope, you're not simple - you are exactly correct in your approach and if every coach adhered to that principal, tennis players would be much better off!

cheers

 

[nabrug]

So how should one get into coaching? Someone's gotta be the first student...

Do you think in the same way about your dentist?

 

[CoachingMastery]

Anyone ever use a t-ball like ball holder to teach? I think it would be a nice way to teach footwork and contact point while keeping it fun.









So how should one get into coaching? Someone's gotta be the first student...





Like.

Many good pros came out of coaching tennis teams, either as an assistant or as a head coach.

There are many good books that help coaches, (because I don't want to sound like I'm marketing mine, I won't mention it here), but I read about twenty books when I was much younger as a new coach, (I've now been teaching for over 35 years), and tried to glean as much from other coaches, pros, and players...just as I did as a junior player learning the game.

As many have said, some "pros" are more harmful than helpful in the long run.

If you are learning or teaching methods that MUST change later for the player to become skilled, (if that is the goal of the student), then that pro will be harmful to the student.

Remember that we can perceive to be "getting better" because we are hitting certain shots closer to a target. However, this can be very misleading as the definition of a skilled player is two-fold:

1. Hit more EFFECTIVE shots more CONSISTENTLY
2. DEFEND more EFFECTIVE shots hit by better opponents more CONSISTENTLY.

I've addressed this concept in so many workshops, conventions and conferences. Players who learn rudementary strokes that won't fulfill the two criterial stated above will never reach their true potential. If the player must change such initial strokes, (even if the strokes were relatively successful at low levels), making these changes (in grips, footwork, swing patterns, strategy), are very difficult and frustrating for those who have started competing initially with said inferior patterns.

Study progressions that are made by skilled pros who have been successful in producing MANY top-level players.

While great pros may or may not always produce world ranked players, the MAJORITY of their students will be skilled within their level of athleticism, desire, dedication, drive, determination and other extrensic components.

If you are truly a dedicated pro/coach, you will indeed seek out information and authority from those who you value or you respect. Good pros study the game; GREAT pros continue to study, learn, test, and evaluate as they mature and gain experience. Great pros seldom close the door to learning and listening, watching and examining.

Good luck. Hope this is helpful in some way.

 

[BevelDevil]

I used tees years ago, to establish good stroke models and some feel for the contact. The kids liked them, but I wasn't a fan after a while.

Did you use an actual baseball tee?

Did you outgrow the tee, or did you find it not useful at all?

 

[goran_ace]

BevelDevil, I've used a tee for teaching peewee's and kids who were absolute beginners or who had trouble watching the ball, but I don't like to use it a lot because I think it's important to get the kids used to tracking a moving/bouncing ball with their eyes. I didn't use an actual tee-ball tee though. We had these lightweight plastic tube-like things in the equipment shed that I think may have been poster shipping tubes. It's kind of annoying to have to set it up after every shot but the kids thought it was fun to knock them over.

as for how to get started in coaching, a lot of people I know got started teaching over the summer while in high school at the park and rec or as junior helpers at a club. some work as an assistant pro or apprentice over the summer while in college. the key thing in both situations is that you learn the trade by helping out and just being around an experienced pro while they take care of lesson planning and most of the actual instructing.

 

[slice bh compliment]

Did you use an actual baseball tee?

Did you outgrow the tee, or did you find it not useful at all?

It was called the Tennis Tee. Basically it was a baseball tee, but the black part was soft so it did not hurt a kid when he hit it w/ the racquet.

I did lots of different moving drills with it. I really just prefer the Practice Hit because the ball moves and it takes good spacing and also good timing to be successful.

 

[Ash_Smith]

Good pros study the game; GREAT pros continue to study, learn, test, and evaluate as they mature and gain experience. Great pros seldom close the door to learning and listening, watching and examining.

Exceptionally well said Dave.

cheers