Junior instructor

What do you think of a 13 year old instructor


  • Total voters
    38
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Parker512

Guest
I was wondering what people thought of a 13 year old teaching tennis lessons to little kids. I would only charge 10 dollers and it would be at a local court for begginers
 
Go for it. Sometimes other kids have better communication skills with little kids than some adults. Make sure you keep it fun and get them started with the right fundamentals.
 
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Parker512

Guest
Go for it. Sometimes other kids have better communication skills with little kids than some adults. Make sure you keep it fun and get them started with the right fundamentals.

Thank tennis coach your really inspireing.:)
 

ProgressoR

Hall of Fame
if i had a kid learning from a 13 year old he would need to have sound strokes and a good way to explain to kids. And to keep it fun so my kid wants to go back. If you can do that, then go for it and good luck!
 
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Parker512

Guest
Thanks I appreciate it do you think i should charge less?
 

ProgressoR

Hall of Fame
no dont charge less if you charge less than 10 then people will think you are not worth more and might think you are not good. its psychological, dont charge too much, they have to save quite a lot compared to using a pro, but dont charge too little.
 

pyrokid

Hall of Fame
Honestly, paying for a fully certified pro to teach a little kid doesn't make any sense unless they plan to go pro.
So this seems like a good idea.
 

MegacedU

Professional
You could get in trouble for that. It's technically soliciting, and I'm guessing you have no coaching certification. It's also likely you're a beginner yourself. Get started at a summer camp if this is something you want to do.
 

ManuGinobili

Hall of Fame
What you could do is give them first 3 lessons free... This will invite a lot more parents to bring their kids to try out, this also means that the amount of people you're able to keep will be higher than otherwise.
 
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saigonbond

Guest
Hey there,
While I think your heart is in the right place and you have great intentions obviously, I would definitely recommend against that unless its for free.
You have to learn how to teach, that's why there are certifications. It is also possible that unintentionally someone may get injured if not properly taught.
In the end, if this is something that you just "have to do," get the advice and consent of your parents as well as the advice and consent of the parents of the kids you may be teaching.
I'll bet you'll be a great teacher a few more years down the road.
CHEERS!
 

OrangeOne

Legend
To answer the question: No, you shouldn't do it - not on your own.

If you're keen to teach, why not go to one (all) of your local clubs and make this fact known to the coaches there. You could start out helping there, and maybe even get paid, and learn lots about how to coach.

There are many, many risks in trying to start your own 'business' that young, primarily that you'll be trying to look after children, which is a massive responsibility in a public place.

When I was involved with managing a tennis centre, the 'serious' issues with the junior coaches (some not much older than you) were rarely their actual tennis coaching, often I had to speak to them / educate them on the responsibility of looking after children. They were always working with adult supervision - which also meant they had somewhere to go for tricky questions.

Much harder to do again in public on your own:
  • What will you do if some 16 year old kids, bigger than you, turn up and start making trouble?
  • What will you do if you're coaching 2 kids and one needs to go to the toilet?
  • Do you have a first aid certificate and a fully stocked first aid kit?
  • Do you think (some) kids will struggle with respect for you because they see you're also a kid?
  • Are you sure it's legal for you to do what you're thinking about?
  • Really, any coach should be qualified. What's the youngest age you could do this? (Normally it's around 15-16).
If you're desperate to make money from tennis, and there's no work at local centres, why not save up, buy a cheap stringing machine and teach yourself to string?
 

maverick66

Hall of Fame
I am gonna join the group telling you not to do it. OO listed some great reasons about liability stuff but also your 13 what do you really know about tennis? You are just getting started yourself in learning how the game works. Its a beginner teaching beginners.
 

MegacedU

Professional
Look into 15love. It's a charitable organization that would love your help. You might even learn a thing or two.
 
Wow,these comments are beyond dumb. The kid is going to invite little kids to a local park court, with their parents right there I am sure. He is going to have some foam balls and little racquets and have the little ones do some basic games of catch and then teach them the basic strokes.

Liability? Geez could he find the one parent in 2000000000 who would sue him or his parents if their kid fell down? Yeah, and he could get struck by lightening also....while holding the winning Powerball ticket. Heck we let our kids babysit without a liability insurance policy...and thats with the parents gone.

It isn't soliciting in an illegal sense either. If he advertises through flyers and word of mouth and charges his price and the parents know his age he is fine. The market will speak....if he is good the parents will come back, if it is obvious he stinks at it the parents will pull their kids. That dynamic works at a multi million dollar club or a 13 year old at the local park.

There are tons of empty courts around and the chances of him getting in trouble for not pulling a permit are also slim to none.

Go for it kid....warm the kids up with some light exercise first, have them play some fun catch games, then show them some forehands with foam balls.

Ignore the blowhards that dominate this forum.
 
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MegacedU

Professional
It isn't soliciting in an illegal sense either. If he advertises through flyers and word of mouth and charges his price and the parents know his age he is fine. The market will speak....if he is good the parents will come back, if it is obvious he stinks at it the parents will pull their kids. That dynamic works at a multi million dollar club or a 13 year old at the local park.

That's like me saying, oh, I know a thing or two about laws so I can be your lawyer if you give me 10 dollars. No, that's crazy - I'm uncertified and unlicensed, just like this kid.

I'm not shooting down this kid's excitement for the game, I'm just saying he/she is way way way too young to even think about teaching the game to others when he/she has undoubtedly has underdeveloped strokes as it is. I'm not being negative, it's just how 13 year old tennis players are. Maybe they should volunteer at a charitable tennis org or see if they can become a junior counselor at a tennis camp.

You are on some serious acid if you think some 13 year old kid has any business instructing.

Oh and by the way, I doubt this kid has the capital to front to purchase racquets and foam balls. Just sayin'

Ignore the blowhards that dominate this forum.

The only thing that blows hard is your judgement. Get off your high horse, crazy.
 

OrangeOne

Legend
Wow,these comments are beyond dumb. The kid is going to invite little kids to a local park court, with their parents right there I am sure. He is going to have some foam balls and little racquets and have the little ones do some basic games of catch and then teach them the basic strokes.

Yeah, he'll have foam balls, and little racquets, and a ball basket and a first aid kit and his own gear. Some water too. Actually, some mini-nets are a good idea as well.

And he'll drive it all to the courts in his SUV? And he'll have a couple of hundred bucks to start-up with?

Liability? Geez could he find the one parent in 2000000000 who would sue him or his parents if their kid fell down? Yeah, and he could get struck by lightening also....while holding the winning Powerball ticket.

Liability isn't the issue here, appropriate responsibility is.

Call people a blowhard all you want, but giving a 13 year old advice to start up solo over and above trying to find work somewhere bigger and learning the craft in a safe environment is, well, let's run with 'silly'.

As 'silly' as a 'coach' having a 5 year old girl use a full-sized racquet, really, so why am I not surprised?
 

OrangeOne

Legend
The only thing that blows hard is your judgement. Get off your high horse, crazy.

Nice work, Meg, nice. To think I was restraining myself to words like 'silly' :D

--

To the OP Parker512: I should have said in my longer post the same thing others have - it's great to see you're so enthusiastic, so motivated. I wish more 13 year olds were as motivated in any direction other than their x-box.

There have been loads of great ideas in this thread, hope you try some of them.
 
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saigonbond

Guest
Wow,these comments are beyond dumb. The kid is going to invite little kids to a local park court, with their parents right there I am sure. He is going to have some foam balls and little racquets and have the little ones do some basic games of catch and then teach them the basic strokes.

Liability? Geez could he find the one parent in 2000000000 who would sue him or his parents if their kid fell down? Yeah, and he could get struck by lightening also....while holding the winning Powerball ticket. Heck we let our kids babysit without a liability insurance policy...and thats with the parents gone.

It isn't soliciting in an illegal sense either. If he advertises through flyers and word of mouth and charges his price and the parents know his age he is fine. The market will speak....if he is good the parents will come back, if it is obvious he stinks at it the parents will pull their kids. That dynamic works at a multi million dollar club or a 13 year old at the local park.

There are tons of empty courts around and the chances of him getting in trouble for not pulling a permit are also slim to none.

Go for it kid....warm the kids up with some light exercise first, have them play some fun catch games, then show them some forehands with foam balls.

Ignore the blowhards that dominate this forum.

-----------------------------
I suggest you read my post before you start insulting people. I think you'll find I was not condescending in the least but constructive. The kid asked for our opinions so we gave them. By the way, the kid never mentioned parents being there which obviously means consent.
There seems to be just one blowhard here, and its obviously not me...
 

ProgressoR

Hall of Fame
OP tell us how you see these lessons panning out, where will they be, will parents be present the whole time, will it be with one kid or a group? what age groups? and what skill level are you? Will they bring all their own equipment? what equipment will you bring, regular tennis balls or foam? First aid kit is actually not a bad idea even if parents are there it shows you are being responsible, kids always get scrapes and bruises. And are your parents also cool with this? can one of them come with you to your lessons?

I think some of the advice above is marginal but much of it is very good, you would do well to take good things from it.
 

CoachingMastery

Professional
Let me offer some advice to the OP.

There are many ways in which you can appropriately teach tennis. In addition to finding clubs to see if you can help out, there are some even better locations to actually teach. One way is to see if your city recreation is in need of instructors. Most of the time, they will need more than one and often they pair up an adult with a junior to teach if the situation is presented. I was teaching from the age of 13 and did this exact process. In addition, I was able to get private lessons through the city program I was teaching for. They also provided much of the tools to use to teach, from balls, racquets, and some devices that are appropriate for teaching little kids.

While you won't know nearly as much as you will later, if you have read books, studied the game through web sites, watched a number of pros teach carefully, and attended workshops/camps yourself, you are probably well-suited for teaching little kids...and perhaps, even a few beginning adults. (I was a top ranked junior, one of the best in my city, so I had a following of players just from that.)

If you don't have the kind of experiences I've just listed, start now. There are a few web sites, (tennisone.com, tennisplayer.net, fuzzyellowtennisballs.com, hi-techtennis.com and others) which have some teaching articles and features on teaching. (Especially TennisOne which I've written a series of training articles as well a couple other writers who have included some terrific articles on training little kids.)

What ever you do, make sure you have permission to teach on the courts you are looking to teach on. Public courts, while many might be empty, are usually not open for 'renegade pros' to jump on and start teaching.

Finally, I would highly recommend that if you are playing on a high school team, take the time to work with some of the beginners or younger kids. You will learn a lot in a large group setting. It may not help you in terms of becoming a better player, (although, sometimes through teaching you actually can learn yourself!), but you will gain valuable experience.

Don't rush it and do it wrong just because you are anxious to make a buck and want to teach. In the long run, you will be far better prepaired as well as respected if you go through the proper hoops.

Good luck.
 
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Parker512

Guest
What you could do is give them first 3 lessons free... This will invite a lot more parents to bring their kids to try out, this also means that the amount of people you're able to keep will be higher than otherwise.

Thats a great idea!
 
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Parker512

Guest
Here is my plan in detail to clear up confuseion!

1. I would have a first aid kit and there parents would be required to be there and sign a waiver
2. They would be really begginer kids and they would bring their own raquet.
3. I would supply balls and have little games for 6 year olds.
4. The bathroom is right next to the court if they had to go.
ALSO BY THE WAY THIS WAS JUST AN IDEA!
5.Would i need a permit to use public outdoor courts?
6. By the way i live in the middle of no where!
BY THE WAY I DO HAVE THE CAPITAL!
7. I have watched caps lessons many times alot were begginers around age 7.

EVERYBODY's THOUGHTS OR CRITASISCUM ARE WELCOMED!
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
...

5.Would i need a permit to use public outdoor courts?

...

Some cities have strict ordinances and may have parks & rec programs that don't want any competition from outsiders. In other cities, this does not seem to be a problem at all. Around here, high school courts are sometimes the best best -- as long as the high school teams are not in season and using their courts for team practices and matches.
 

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
I'm a parent. I have a 13 year old son. And of course, my three kids were once little.

Would I have paid a 13 year old kid $10 teach my kid at age 5-7 at a public park?

Of course.

I would hire a teen to watch my kid unsupervised in my home for $10 an hour. Why wouldn't I allow this to be done in a public park? In fact, the public park setting is better because my kid would be getting some exercise instead of being parked in front of the TV, and the public setting assures no hanky panky.

My kids have belonged to a community swimming pool for years, and they have been on a swim team. When swimmers become 15 and have been on the team a while, they hang up fliers at the pool offering to give swim lessons to kids. Now, these swimmers don't know the first thing about teaching a 5 year old kid to swim. They get hired plenty.

Go for it, OP. Keep things as safe and fun as you can, 'kay?
 
OP: They'll beg for Meg = $$$

Thanks I appreciate it do you think i should charge less?
No! As 'CoachFLA' said, let the market set the hourly rate bar.

Marketing position is the key. Offer attractive perks that will set you apart from the other 'teaching pros' out there:

1. Complimentary peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with every lesson.

2. This to me is a no-brainer: hire MegacedU as your Head Pro.

Meg's a player, she's taught and she's a babe. She'll serve as "eye candy" for the starry-eyed, love-struck young boys who'll be lining up in droves to take lessons from her (their amused moms gladly footing the bill). And when Meg sees the dough rolling in (even with your 25% override), trust me, she'll quickly drop the "soliciting" argument. As for you, you can forget teaching--you'll be standing off in the corner with a bubble-gum cigar hangin' outta your mouth happily counting your wad of bills. Just remember to give Meg her fair share.

Your first order of the day: fly her in (First/Business Class) before someone beats you to it and steals her out from under your nose. Good luck.
 

MegacedU

Professional
If you're pro at a country club, they'll often let you use their facilities for free for private lessons for their members. I loved that gig. I taught the little $&%!s during the day for a hourly wage and then I taught private lessons in the evening for $30 an hour. All of which I got to keep. Not to mention I got to use that gorgeous championship golf course.
 
Scooter, who AARRRE these people?.....do we even KNOW 'them' ??? ....

^^^^^^^^
More to the point Parker512, beyond membership dues, "real" country clubs are about levying a hefty bond upfront; ususally starting at 50k with 100k or more not exactly out of the ordinary. It's assumed you've "got it" and that you are "club" material (while they get to 'play' with your bond bucks). The only way around that 'bond' is to take out a junior membership at a club your family has been members of (i.e. when you "come of age" yourself).

That said, there are lower-tier "country clubs" that actually list their membership dues (single/family/etc) in their informational packages (or websites), and they'll usually be in the 5K-10K annual range, but besides that, by and large, a traditional country club will:

-- require you be sponsored by a member in good standing.

-- have you meet with the membership commitee and weeks later at a "cocktail party" get together with the Board of Governors and other perspective new members so as to allow them to give you the "once over" and see if you can 'work the room' yourself).

-- have a monthly "house charges" minimum (and if not met, the difference to be added on to your monthly bill).

-- nail you with a hefty bond (almost always required)

-- boot yer ass off the golf course should you so much as think of bringing a cell phone with you.

-- have white people dressing in 'pastels' you wouldn't be caught dead "out-on-the-street" in!

-- usually have a "Men's Grill" (the '19th' hole) that still enjoys a good-ol-boys "growed-up" version of the Little Rascal's "Woman Haters Club" (i.e. gender-restricted). This is where old, white farts with names like "Hamp" (for Hampton), Skip and Chip hang out. (smirk)

:razz:--"sorry Muffy, no girls allowed!...Boys only"

Meghan, "30 bucks/hr.?" You're selling yourself short Blondina....unless you made up for it by making 'em pay for drinks afterwards, ya lush! jk

"Hi Skip!"
"Hi Biff!"... hey, what say we catch up with the girls later and meet on the dock landing at 5:00 for drinks and watch the end of the regatta?"
"Excellent Skip!.....oh look!...there's Ken and Wendy!....*waves*..HI!!!"
 

papa

Hall of Fame
Finally, I would highly recommend that if you are playing on a high school team, take the time to work with some of the beginners or younger kids. You will learn a lot in a large group setting. It may not help you in terms of becoming a better player, (although, sometimes through teaching you actually can learn yourself!), but you will gain valuable experience.

Well, although I would agree completely with Dave's post, I would also caution any high school players to check with their particular state's athletic group that governs high school sports.

You might find (think you will) that most states prohibit players from earning money "teaching" as compared with coaching for a recreation department. So before you find yourself having to do a lot of explaining, check the rules governing your State. I know of a case where a high school player spent last summer "teaching" tennis at a country club - now there is a problem/questions with their eligibility.
 

CptnRiceKrispy

New User
I've read this post with much interest and it took me awhile to come up with my opinion. I've been in and dealt with situations the OP will face. I'm 15 years old (just turned) and I am a tennis instructor. I'm a pretty decent player and I can handle myself pretty well both mentally and socially.

Before I go into giving my opinion let me tell you these are purely my own views and are based on personal experience.

Ok first of all its going to be very hard giving lessons by yourself is very tough. You have no backup if you run into trouble or anything goes wrong. You are solely responsible for everything. You will have to deal with parents, the kids and sometimes that could be overwhelming. But being by yourself is also a really good thing. You are your own boss and you make all the money. just don't lose interest halfway through the session or after 4 out of the 8 planned lessons.


Something that I would recommend and find much more enjoyable is to go to the local community center or club and offer to teach. In fact that is what I'm doing right now. This way you still gain valuable experience and can learn from the more experienced instructors. It also makes things alot easier on yourself. The students come to you in which you can offer them private lessons in the future. Also teaching with other tennis players like you is always alot of fun and you get to meet alot of keen guys or girls who you can hook up with later. (Both ways xD)

Pick the choice best for you.
 

CptnRiceKrispy

New User
Another thing it's good to start early but in my very honest opinion that is a bit young to start doing these kind of things. But I have never met you or do I know how you act or handle yourself.
 
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Parker512

Guest
Like what cptn krisp had to say thanks. Yo have much wisdom.
 

pvaudio

Legend
Wow,these comments are beyond dumb. The kid is going to invite little kids to a local park court, with their parents right there I am sure. He is going to have some foam balls and little racquets and have the little ones do some basic games of catch and then teach them the basic strokes.

Liability? Geez could he find the one parent in 2000000000 who would sue him or his parents if their kid fell down? Yeah, and he could get struck by lightening also....while holding the winning Powerball ticket. Heck we let our kids babysit without a liability insurance policy...and thats with the parents gone.

It isn't soliciting in an illegal sense either. If he advertises through flyers and word of mouth and charges his price and the parents know his age he is fine. The market will speak....if he is good the parents will come back, if it is obvious he stinks at it the parents will pull their kids. That dynamic works at a multi million dollar club or a 13 year old at the local park.

There are tons of empty courts around and the chances of him getting in trouble for not pulling a permit are also slim to none.

Go for it kid....warm the kids up with some light exercise first, have them play some fun catch games, then show them some forehands with foam balls.

Ignore the blowhards that dominate this forum.
The number of reasons to not do this outweigh the reasons to do it by a factor of at least 10. They've already been listed, so I'll just say this: you may be a coach, but you clearly aren't anywhere near being a teenager. If you asked Andy Roddick to give you a tennis lesson at 17 with hope to actually learn something useful vs. going to a USPTA pro, you'd be incredibly disappointed. Why? Because no matter how good you are in tournaments and in competition, it takes years of experience to be able to teach the craft to someone else. The same can be said for university professors: there are kids in class who get straight A's because they're just that smart and don't have to study hard. Those kids will NEVER understand why someone struggles just to get C's because they cannot relate. They only know their own experience and cannot extrapolate far enough to gain the perspective of those who might not be as quick learning. The same applies to tennis: even if this kid is the best 14s player in his state, he's still nowhere near qualified enough to teach as he's only good because it comes naturally to him. He doesn't spend time studying the basic mechanics of tennis because he doesn't have to. He doesn't spend time learning how to teach someone the different grips because he doesn't have to. He doesn't spend time studying different playing styles because he doesn't have to. It takes many years of playing experience, level regardless, to have a full appreciation of the game and to be able to teach it to someone who most likely will never be at your level anyway. That's why he should wait at least until mid-late high school to start teaching the most beginning of beginners since it's not possible for him to have played long enough to relate to those who are still struggling with the fundamentals.
 

pvaudio

Legend
I'm a parent. I have a 13 year old son. And of course, my three kids were once little.

Would I have paid a 13 year old kid $10 teach my kid at age 5-7 at a public park?

Of course.

I would hire a teen to watch my kid unsupervised in my home for $10 an hour. Why wouldn't I allow this to be done in a public park? In fact, the public park setting is better because my kid would be getting some exercise instead of being parked in front of the TV, and the public setting assures no hanky panky.

My kids have belonged to a community swimming pool for years, and they have been on a swim team. When swimmers become 15 and have been on the team a while, they hang up fliers at the pool offering to give swim lessons to kids. Now, these swimmers don't know the first thing about teaching a 5 year old kid to swim. They get hired plenty.

Go for it, OP. Keep things as safe and fun as you can, 'kay?
With all due respect, you're making comparisons that aren't relevant. Your babysitter isn't teaching your kids anything, and a swimming instructor is essentially just teaching someone how to survive should they fall into the water. Anyone with the simplest of abilities would be able to do either just under careful guidance. Teaching someone a sport which requires incredibly precise hand-eye coordination, hundreds of different terms for strokes, spins, movements, court placements, line names, etc. is vastly different. A more relevant example is teaching someone to read. Unless you have studied and trained in the field, then you wouldn't be able to since it comes naturally to you. The same goes for highly coordinated sports like tennis: there are so many fine components that if you have not studied those components for that purpose alone, then you wouldn't be able to teach since you wouldn't even realize that you are omitting them.
 

papa

Hall of Fame
I've read this post with much interest and it took me awhile to come up with my opinion. I've been in and dealt with situations the OP will face. I'm 15 years old (just turned) and I am a tennis instructor. I'm a pretty decent player and I can handle myself pretty well both mentally and socially.

Before I go into giving my opinion let me tell you these are purely my own views and are based on personal experience.

Ok first of all its going to be very hard giving lessons by yourself is very tough. You have no backup if you run into trouble or anything goes wrong. You are solely responsible for everything. You will have to deal with parents, the kids and sometimes that could be overwhelming. But being by yourself is also a really good thing. You are your own boss and you make all the money. just don't lose interest halfway through the session or after 4 out of the 8 planned lessons.


Something that I would recommend and find much more enjoyable is to go to the local community center or club and offer to teach. In fact that is what I'm doing right now. This way you still gain valuable experience and can learn from the more experienced instructors. It also makes things alot easier on yourself. The students come to you in which you can offer them private lessons in the future. Also teaching with other tennis players like you is always alot of fun and you get to meet alot of keen guys or girls who you can hook up with later. (Both ways xD)

Pick the choice best for you.

What do you do insurance wise?
 

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
With all due respect, you're making comparisons that aren't relevant. Your babysitter isn't teaching your kids anything, and a swimming instructor is essentially just teaching someone how to survive should they fall into the water. Anyone with the simplest of abilities would be able to do either just under careful guidance. Teaching someone a sport which requires incredibly precise hand-eye coordination, hundreds of different terms for strokes, spins, movements, court placements, line names, etc. is vastly different. A more relevant example is teaching someone to read. Unless you have studied and trained in the field, then you wouldn't be able to since it comes naturally to you. The same goes for highly coordinated sports like tennis: there are so many fine components that if you have not studied those components for that purpose alone, then you wouldn't be able to teach since you wouldn't even realize that you are omitting them.

Two things.

My kids are not the next Federer. It makes no difference at that age whether someone who is teaching them has mastered the finer points of tennis. After all, I would go out and play with my kids back then, and I didn't know a thing about tennis. I'd be hiring OP to play with my kid, not mold a champion.

Second, I would also hire OP to read with my kid, even if OP is not a language pathologist. In that case, I would be hiring OP to read to my kid. People have been reading to kids for centuries; it's no big deal.

Hiring kids to do summer work has been going on since forever. When you hire a very young kid, you have to understand that their skill level and maturity will not be what you would expect from an adult professional. You take that into account in the amount of supervision you do and the amount you pay, and then you turn your kids loose to have some summer fun with a 13-year-old tennis teacher in the local park.

While you sit on the bench and watch in case the situation needs some adult intervention. Or it starts to rain.
 

Cindysphinx

G.O.A.T.
One more thing to mull:

Now that my kids are older, I understand a bit better how they felt about things when they were younger. Most "activities" for kids these days involve the kid being shuttled to a place to participate in "instruction" with a bunch of other kids they have never met, led by an adult they have never met.

This may look like fun and we adults think it is appropriate and safe and well-conceived, but it is really quite different from what many of us grew up with. Remember, we used to just get on our bikes and take off. Or play baseball with as many friends as we could round up. Today's activities for kids are really quite structured in comparison, aren't they?

Looking back on it now, I think my kids would have preferred being taught by someone who is more of a peer, someone they could relate to better. Someone like OP. It would perhaps have been less structured, more free-flowing, more on their level, more *fun.*

Yeah, you might not get your kid the most precise instruction on the proper grip and take-back for her BH. But she might come away thinking that tennis is fun rather than tennis is just another form of "instruction."

JMHO, of course.
 

OrangeOne

Legend
One more thing to mull:

Now that my kids are older, I understand a bit better how they felt about things when they were younger. Most "activities" for kids these days involve the kid being shuttled to a place to participate in "instruction" with a bunch of other kids they have never met, led by an adult they have never met.

This may look like fun and we adults think it is appropriate and safe and well-conceived, but it is really quite different from what many of us grew up with. Remember, we used to just get on our bikes and take off. Or play baseball with as many friends as we could round up. Today's activities for kids are really quite structured in comparison, aren't they?

Looking back on it now, I think my kids would have preferred being taught by someone who is more of a peer, someone they could relate to better. Someone like OP. It would perhaps have been less structured, more free-flowing, more on their level, more *fun.*

Yeah, you might not get your kid the most precise instruction on the proper grip and take-back for her BH. But she might come away thinking that tennis is fun rather than tennis is just another form of "instruction."

JMHO, of course.

I'm so glad that people on here don't own the IP behind the concepts they share ;)

In a round-about way I'm kidding, of course, and as often as not i don't agree with things other people say on here, but Cindy, that post contained a gem. A true gem. Thanks for posting :D
 

OrangeOne

Legend
I would make the parents sign waiver forms. Or say ahead of time i was'nt liable for injuries.

Here's the thing. When people sign a waiver, most know that it's not relevant, as the environment and the people involved are appropriate. When I go to a new gym, I know the waiver is likely to not matter to me. When I go kart-racing or sky-diving (weird examples, but run with it), I usually know the people involved know that their job / livelihood / career depends on keeping me safe. These things don't apply to a 13 year old.

The bigger question is: Can a 13 year old present a waiver form that he, himself, cannot legally sign, to be signed by others?

It's a short, 2-letter-answer.
 

athiker

Hall of Fame
This thread is good b/c it lays out a lot of things to think about when starting any kind of business. That should be useful whether you go forward with this particular venture or not. I'm not going to tell you whether to do it or not b/c I don't know you. I will say I let my kids and their friends sell lemonade out front sometimes on hot days. The laundry list of things that could go wrong and are "illegal" about that is fairly long too if one really thinks about it. Believe me, I have thought about it and I've made my decision based on what I believe are the overall pros and cons. I guess its kind of like "percentage tennis" only the stakes are higher!

Here is my only advice for you today. I don't mean to be a jerk at all, we all make occasional mistakes so please take this in the spirit it is given. You seem to be open to suggestions so I'm going to make one.

Please check out this website: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000853.htm

So much communication is now done over the web in written form, right or wrong impressions are made. Good luck either way.
 

OrangeOne

Legend
This thread is good b/c it lays out a lot of things to think about when starting any kind of business. That should be useful whether you go forward with this particular venture or not. I'm not going to tell you whether to do it or not b/c I don't know you. I will say I let my kids and their friends sell lemonade out front sometimes on hot days. The laundry list of things that could go wrong and are "illegal" about that is fairly long too if one really thinks about it. Believe me, I have thought about it and I've made my decision based on what I believe are the overall pros and cons. I guess its kind of like "percentage tennis" only the stakes are higher!

I see what you're saying, I just would like to point out that there is a significant difference in responsibility between selling lemonade, and being the temporary guardian of children. Both involve risks, but risks on very different scales imho.

Ps. I'm impressed to know that people actually do setup lemonade stalls. Here's me thinking it was just business-school-101-training :)
 
I see what you're saying, I just would like to point out that there is a significant difference in responsibility between selling lemonade, and being the temporary guardian of children. Both involve risks, but risks on very different scales imho.

Ps. I'm impressed to know that people actually do setup lemonade stalls. Here's me thinking it was just business-school-101-training :)

He isn't the temporary guardian of anyone's children. The parents would be right there. Of all the tennis lessons to little kids I have been involved with, even at top clubs, the parent is REQUIRED to stay for insurance purposes. Very few programs besides summer camps allow drop offs.

OP....I say go for it and do not look back. I started a mail order business at 11, was running a little summer sports program at 14, built and sold 2 businesses and retired to become a tennis coach on my own terms by age 32. I take the students I want and tell the ones with annoying parents to go elsewhere.

Listen to the 99% of adults who are stuck in a rut and you will most likely end up just as stuck as they are. Go for it and see what happens.
 
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