Giving lessons and hogging the court

[movdqa]

A private instructor was giving a lesson on the public courts. He was finishing up with his student and we came on and started hitting. He was on the best court. His student left and he took his racquet and bottle of water and left. But he left his bucket of balls on the court. He walked over to his pickup truck and sat there for the next hour while we hit on the second court. I understand that private instructors have it rough with private tennis clubs being closed but holding a court while you waiting?

The guy is probably the best instructor in the area and I'd guess that he's a 5.5 or higher. I'd go to him for lessons if I wanted them.

 

[Bartelby]

Not quite understanding why you couldn't play on the court for the hour he had no coaching, but the reality is that you should report his behaviour and hopefully he will stop.

 

[chinobambino]

Especially with tennis being rated "more safe" in these Covid times, the local public courts are more packed than ever with those that aren't as familiar with tennis court use and etiquette (use for ~1 hour/1 set if people are waiting is the normal rule in Oregon).

It's maddening when rules aren't posted and you're put into a situation to confront others that their time is up. Some seem to think it's like basketball where 1st come 1st serve, or winners stay.

 

[movdqa]

This guy has been teaching for at least ten years. I see him most at my club where he teaches in the summer because nobody is there and you can just walk onto any empty court in the summer and play for free. He has his students reserve courts in the winter. You aren't supposed to give private lessons as the club has their own instructors but nobody complains.

 

[JW10S]

Many public tennis centers have strict rules about private instruction on the courts. Many require a permit, some require the pro or pros enter into a concession agreement with the parks and rec dept., and some do not allow teaching at all by saying things in the posted rules like a max of only 6 balls are allowed on court. Given that this guy was allowed to give private instruction I can sort of understand why he wouldn't want to pack up all his gear for just an hour break but I agree he shouldn't be able to hold the court for a lesson that's a hour off. I would have taken the court and when he came back told him the 2nd court was free...

 

[movdqa]

Many public tennis centers have strict rules about private instruction on the courts. Many require a permit, some require the pro or pros enter into a concession agreement with the parks and rec dept., and some do not allow teaching at all by saying things in the posted rules like a max of only 6 balls are allowed on court. Given that this guy was allowed to give private instruction I can sort of understand why he wouldn't want to pack up all his gear for just an hour break but I agree he shouldn't be able to hold the court for a lesson that's a hour off. I would have taken the court and when he came back told him the 2nd court was free...

The third court was free as well.

The wind blows from third-court to first court so the people in the first court have to travel least for balls that wind up against the fence on court 1.

There are no rules posted on these courts. They are at a local middle school. I think that there are signs about not bringing dogs on the track. There's also a sign to pick up after your dog.

i understand that you have to really hustle to make a living these days with the loss of so many jobs. But this was a bit of a problem before the pandemic and it's a little bigger now because there are fewer courts available to the tennis community.

 

[Deleted member 769694]

A private instructor was giving a lesson on the public courts. He was finishing up with his student and we came on and started hitting. He was on the best court. His student left and he took his racquet and bottle of water and left. But he left his bucket of balls on the court. He walked over to his pickup truck and sat there for the next hour while we hit on the second court. I understand that private instructors have it rough with private tennis clubs being closed but holding a court while you waiting?

The guy is probably the best instructor in the area and I'd guess that he's a 5.5 or higher. I'd go to him for lessons if I wanted them.

Report him to the uspta or usptr. One reason not to get certified.

Also use his balls to play with and dont pick them up afterwards

 

[T1000]

If he gives you a hard time for taking over the court just report him to the town. They’ll sort him out quick since they’ll want a cut of whatever he’s making while using their courts. At least that’s how it works in CT

 

[Mark-Touch]

Not to hijack your thread but...

There is a local teacher who uses public courts (I can only assume that they have a permit to do so) to give group lessons to young kids.
I've been booted off their preferred (best) court many times and told to move to another one. Sometimes they'll take up two courts.
What bothers me the most is that public courts are being used by someone to make money. It wouldn't be so bad if they were free lessons.

While we're ranting. Have you ever entered the courts and someone was playing a boom box on their court that could be clearly heard on all the courts?
What would you do?

 

[movdqa]

Not to hijack your thread but...

There is a local teacher who uses public courts (I can only assume that they have a permit to do so) to give group lessons to young kids.
I've been booted off their preferred (best) court many times and told to move to another one. Sometimes they'll take up two courts.
What bothers me the most is that public courts are being used by someone to make money. It wouldn't be so bad if they were free lessons.

While we're ranting. Have you ever entered the courts and someone was playing a boom box on their court that could be clearly heard on all the courts?
What would you do?

Yup. One guy tried an experiment teaching teens with music blaring in the background. It lasted for a month.

The other time was a guy in his 60s, very fit and actually quite good - he was hitting with a college player that I've hit with in the past. He was playing tunes from the 1970s.

In general, I avoid confrontations as much as possible. I'm not going to call the town on the guy misusing the courts. He's the best instructor in the region and his students benefit from his expertise. He trains a lot of local high-school and middle-school students.

The absolutely worst experience is that they put in a hockey rink next to a court in our club (you never want to play on it during hockey games). They put an electronic horn on the wall next to the tennis court and it goes off every once in a while. You worry about the netting not catching the pucks that go over the railing too. The hockey players take the benches off the tennis courts so that they can sit and watch.

At least tennis is more likely to come back than hockey.

 

[GBplayer]

Try talking. You could have asked to use the court whilst he was waiting and agree to leave when he came back?

 

[movdqa]

Try talking. You could have asked to use the court whilst he was waiting and agree to leave when he came back?

He walked over to his truck and just sat in it.

I asked my partner and he was fine just staying where we were.

If there were no other courts, we would have taken it.

He doesn't own the court. If he's not using it, we'd just take it.

 

[sureshs]

Report him to the uspta or usptr. One reason not to get certified.

Also use his balls to play with and dont pick them up afterwards

What has certification got to do with it? If at all, it is a good thing because you can complain to an organization.

And using his balls to play is very bad advice in this crisis especially to a person like the OP who is a senior with health issues.

 

[movdqa]

What has certification got to do with it? If at all, it is a good thing because you can complain to an organization.

And using his balls to play is very bad advice in this crisis especially to a person like the OP who is a senior with health issues.

I have no idea as to whether or not he's certified. He definitely doesn't need certification. If you want the best teacher in the region - he's it.

 

[Harry_Wild]

The guy is probably the best instructor in the area and I'd guess that he's a 5.5 or higher. I'd go to him for lessons if I wanted them.

Ugh, depending on what level you are of course, but many tennis coaches that are superior coaches are not that good as a player. You can see the list of famous coaches some do not even play tennis before the started tennis coaching like Nick Bollettieri, who was a law student and Richard Williams who learn the game by watching tennis matches on TV and reading books on tennis instruction. I do not believe that when both were active tennis instructors, they were certified either. Because of this, many instructors have been grand father in and automatically are certified if they wanted to be! LOL!

 

[movdqa]

Ugh, depending on what level you are of course, but many tennis coaches that are superior coaches are not that good as a player. You can see the list of famous coaches some do not even play tennis before the started tennis coaching like Nick Bollettieri, who was a law student and Richard Williams who learn the game by watching tennis matches on TV and reading books on tennis instruction.

I've watched this guy teach for over a decade. He gets all of the best local players looking for lessons. It isn't even close.

That may change as we have a tennis club that has changed ownership and is part of a group from MA but I did look at some juniors there and they didn't seem as well trained. I look at his results and I've watched him as sparring partner against college players. And he keeps up with them.

 

[chrischris]

This guy has been teaching for at least ten years. I see him most at my club where he teaches in the summer because nobody is there and you can just walk onto any empty court in the summer and play for free. He has his students reserve courts in the winter. You aren't supposed to give private lessons as the club has their own instructors but nobody complains.

Then its about time , right?

 

[GBplayer]

He walked over to his truck and just sat in it.

I asked my partner and he was fine just staying where we were.

If there were no other courts, we would have taken it.

He doesn't own the court. If he's not using it, we'd just take it.

Could just shoot him. Problem solved forever. No neck holds though

 

[movdqa]

Could just shoot him. Problem solved forever. No neck holds though

This is NH, a fairly chill place.

 

[sureshs]

During this pandemic, many tennis pros are desperate for income. Initially, they did not qualify for the special unemployment benefits because they are contractors. Then lobbying happened and they are getting the benefits. But they are not yet back on their feet. Older adults are not back in full force for lessons, and juniors do not have tournaments to train for. Their business is down. Cut them some slack.

 

[movdqa]

During this pandemic, many tennis pros are desperate for income. Initially, they did not qualify for the special unemployment benefits because they are contractors. Then lobbying happened and they are getting the benefits. But they are not yet back on their feet. Older adults are not back in full force for lessons, and juniors do not have tournaments to train for. Their business is down. Cut them some slack.

NH allowed self-employed unemployment compensation very early.

Making a living teaching tennis is tough work and it's subject to the whims of the local market. This guy is training the next generation of good players, hopefully they stay in the area.

 

[sureshs]

Doesn’t excuse squatting on a court when not using it. That’s simply rude.

Maybe he simply doesn't want to carry his bucket of balls back and forth from his car to the court?

 

[Deleted member 769694]

Ugh, depending on what level you are of course, but many tennis coaches that are superior coaches are not that good as a player. You can see the list of famous coaches some do not even play tennis before the started tennis coaching like Nick Bollettieri, who was a law student and Richard Williams who learn the game by watching tennis matches on TV and reading books on tennis instruction. I do not believe that when both were active tennis instructors, they were certified either. Because of this, many instructors have been grand father in and automatically are certified if they wanted to be! LOL!

Neither of these guys can actually teach tennis. Nick hired some of the best pro's and richard took free scholarships to greenleaf and other places.

Nick maybe a little bit. But he teaches what he knows, he cannot improvise on mechanics (aka understand the stroke). Richard is like a 2.0-2.5

There is a local teacher who uses public courts (I can only assume that they have a permit to do so) to give group lessons to young kids.
I've been booted off their preferred (best) court many times and told to move to another one. Sometimes they'll take up two courts.
What bothers me the most is that public courts are being used by someone to make money. It wouldn't be so bad if they were free lessons.

Ask them if they have this court reserved (pubs have no reserve), then ignore them. Call the police and make it public record what they were doing if they take it further.

Dont feel sorry for these pros or other businesses suffering, they did crap for you when things were going great (maybe raise prices). Now they want pity, LOL

 

[Deleted member 769694]

I have no idea as to whether or not he's certified. He definitely doesn't need certification. If you want the best teacher in the region - he's it.

If he is only a 5.5, i seriously doubt that They best pro's in this area were atp/money players. Not the tuesday night league

 

[movdqa]

If he is only a 5.5, i seriously doubt that They best pro's in this area were atp/money players. Not the tuesday night league

Falling 5.5. He's in his 40s.

 

[megamind]

Some seem to think it's like basketball where 1st come 1st serve, or winners stay.

Well, if they're truly noobs, then that should be great for you! Just challenge them to a duel and kick them off the court!

 

[Raul_SJ]

What bothers me the most is that public courts are being used by someone to make money. It wouldn't be so bad if they were free lessons.

The city makes money as well by issuing the permit. That is why the city allows him to teach on the court...

The other option is not to allow any coaching on public courts. But then where would all these guys go to teach?

 

[JW10S]

The city makes money as well by issuing the permit. That is why the city allows him to teach on the court...

Where I live pros can teach by permit on the public parks and rec courts. Residents pay a nominal fee to book court time while the pros must pay more than double that fee to book a court.