Group class or private lesson for a 12 year old?

[scott_home]

Hi all,

My son wants to learn tennis. Maybe joining a high school team eventually.
I have two options:

1. Group class in a tennis academy. 2 days a week. 2 hours each time. Teacher-student ratio is around 1 to 8. Besides academy, I will practice with him 3 times a week. I am a 3.5/4.0 player

2. Private lesson once a week. One hour each time. Besides the private lesson, I will practice with him 4 times a week.

What is your opinion on these options? Cost wise is about the same. Your precious experience is much appreciated.

 

[ey039524]

Not sure about your ability to teach your son proper stroke mechanics. If so, group. When he improves more, then both. If not, both right away.

Group clinics don't allow time for the coach to teach proper form.

 

[nyta2]

i'd do private, for a few months until he has fundamentals (eg. rally 20 in a row, spin serve with minimal df's), then switch to academy style group, but revisit lessons as often as $ allows (ideally with the teacher running the academy (as they will be familiar with your son's game)).

actually i'm surprised the academy group allows your son if he's just a beginner...

 

[ichaseballs]

lessons are only as useful as the student absorbs.
it depends on his interest level. if he is serious about getting good than private may work better.
if it is more for exercise/fun, group.

 

[eah123]

Option 1 is better. At the beginning stages of learning, the most important thing is to hit a lot of balls and to move a lot to gain ball sense and coordination.

 

[ichaseballs]

do not doubt the natural learning ability. it is strong in children.
having him play different people will develop faster.
having fun is important and if tennis becomes something miserable likely he will not follow through.
making friends of his age with similar tennis interest will help for sure. (i.e. group class)

 

[LuckyR]

Hi all,

My son wants to learn tennis. Maybe joining a high school team eventually.
I have two options:

1. Group class in a tennis academy. 2 days a week. 2 hours each time. Teacher-student ratio is around 1 to 8. Besides academy, I will practice with him 3 times a week. I am a 3.5/4.0 player

2. Private lesson once a week. One hour each time. Besides the private lesson, I will practice with him 4 times a week.

What is your opinion on these options? Cost wise is about the same. Your precious experience is much appreciated.

The answer doesn't lie in the lessons themselves, rather in whether your son enjoys a group setting (which would make tennis more fun).

 

[hadoken]

If you are budget constrained, just do the private 1x week and hit with him for the first 6 months. But eventually you have to add the clinic (or commit to weekly matches with juniors say UTR flex league). I would budget 1 private / week + 1 clinic per week. I'm a 3.5/4.0 player and there is no way I have the skills to teach good fundamentals which you need a coach to do in a private setting. Adults simply don't hit like kids so your child really needs to play with other juniors. Also my kid doesn't use the same focus when hitting with dad vs a coach or kids. Hitting with your son often will be fine at the start as he just needs reps, but eventually I think you need to budget for both if you want your son to develop.

 

[socallefty]

Why not do both private lessons and the group lessons for about 3 months. Then do just the group lessons if you want to save money and are on a budget. It is very important to learn the basic fundamentals properly and so, the private lessons will help in the beginning. The group lessons will help to keep it fun and allow him to hit a lot of balls.

If you are a 3.5, don’t teach him anything as it might be different from what his coach is teaching him. It is probably OK to hit with him and give him hand feeds also.

 

[ppma]

Although with 12 he's quite grown up, I'd not discard the group lessons. He will make friends with other kids with the same interests, and with whom to hit with even outside the classes. Also, he will link tennis with a positive socialization activity, which is a plus to end up loving the sport.

 

[badmice2]

No 1 and back into 2. He has to want it for private to stick. You hitting with him becomes stale after some time and he’s not going to get better from only seeing your shots.