tennis coaching costs

[maevesport]

My 8 year old loves tennis.She has private lessons at £25 an hour plus £12 an hour for the court a couple of times a week.She also has squad coaching.
She is developing a really good technique and loves the game but the costs are scary.Anyone else doing this ? With no sense of how good a player she could be, I am doing it because she loves it and is developing well.

I would love to hear how other parents approach the issue of a sport that is technical and needs coaching to develop but no "evidence" to show yet (too young) that child will become a great player.Grit teeth and keep paying ??

Oh my that does seem a lot. Could she not join a tennis club which has club nights and get coaching that way, which would be far cheaper. My dd's have lessons as part of group at local tennis club and it costs £3.50 each for an our or £6 each for two hours. There is no court hire. I have paid membership of local tennis club so they can go and use the courts outside of lessons but that is only about £30 each for the year. Not sure where you live so that may affect prices. At age 8 ( my two are 7 and 9) its about enjoyment and fun and if they are a future star i'm sure the natural talent will show through by regular playing and group lessons?

that is a good deal MrsP, I pay a lot more than that both for tennis club membership and for lessons, more like your costs maeve plus the tennis club membership fee.l

Where abouts are you located? Could it be that that makes a difference?

I'm overseas MrsP. Quite a timely thread this actually. Have just received an email today about booking lessons for the outdoor season and I think I'll have a look around first and see if there isn't a good option available which is cheaper than what I currently have.

Where are you mrs p? Your lessons are cheap. Where I live groups star at around £7. Per hour, private lessons are £25-£30.
Op does your daughter have a british tennis rating & does she take part in tournaments? Playing against others give you a good idea pf how she is progressing.

Hi I'm near Chester. We're lucky as courts were upgraded a few years ago and a few tennis clubs moved and merged into one. They are outdoor but are floodlit. It's very convenient as they are the bottom of our road as well

Wow there is a huge variation in tennis coaching costs up and down the country! Which suprises me, because there isn't such a variation for things like music lessons...

Our tennis lessons are very cheap in comparison to some here; we pay £6 per hour for 2 children(each) but it's a private lesson shared between the two of them, this also includes the court hire and membership to the club.

To answer your OP, I am not sure how you can tell a child is any good, I have no idea how good mine are and they have been playing around 1 year now....I guess they would have to be winning a lot of matches to get an indication of talent?

Maybe because we are in London? I know you can't get a private lesson for £12 anywhere near here!

Musical where are you located? Our £3.50 an hour is a group lesson but includes court hire etc and then its £6 for two hours. The group usually only has about 4 in it so quite good. Membership is optional and not required for lessons but obviously means on none lesson days can go and practice.

£4.50 for 45 mns inCheshire, group sessions of dames ages

Where in cheshire are you grants?

My daughter has an LTA ranking and became orange 4 "early ".She has lovely top spin and movement but often loses matches due to lack of concentration.
She does nt seem to get it when playing a match.Coach thinks that does nt mean too much at this stage but it is soooo expensive I would love to hear from other Mums who have a child doing this.
Does your child win all matches ?

How much does she play a week? From your op it sounds like 2 privates and more than 1 squad? Most performance players do 2 squads and 1 private I think. No child wins every time - does she attend match plays and play against others with a similar rating?

Hi Nancy
2 privates and 2 squads a week.She loses far more often than wins.She sometimes beats orange 3 or 4 but could lose to red 2.She does not seem as focussed as other kids in matches so consistency not there yet but her technique is good and she can hit "winners" more than other kids in squad.

If she was mainly winning it would be easier to hand over large wodges of cash each week but its very much me going on the fact that she loves it and coaches say you cant tell until they are playing full ball.

I am not looking for a guarantee of Wimbledon but it would be good to hear from other parents who have had children go through the performance groups and what happened then ??

I wouldn't worry about who she loses to, some children have loads of talent but don't play ratings matches often so they have a deceptively low rating, especially in red/orange.
At this age your daughter enjoying it really is the most important part. Personally I think 2 squads & 2 privates is a lot for her age, I think the norm for her age is probably 1 private & 2 squads ( dropping a private would certainly save some money!)
I actually work for a tennis club and I'm surprised to hear a coach say you can't tell until they reach full ball, I would expect better from a good coach. We have red & orange players that have been identified by the coaches as having potential from fairly early on.
Generally children progress through the age groups competing in tournaments and club competitions - do your club enter any PTA leagues? If you dd can get picked for the team that is great experience of playing new people in different places.
From a what happens next point of view, what do you hope for her to achieve? Are you hoping that tennis is something she will play and enjoy for a long time, or are you hoping that it is something she will continue & make a career from ( be warned unless they get in to grand slams they don't make much money!)

I am giving her the chance to become as good player as she can be and to have a sport she can enjoy for the rest of her life.
A teeny tiny part of my imagination has her holding a tennis trophy aloft as I sit in the stands looking on ......possibly with a retired Federer sitting next to me!

Tennis is a very expensive sport. Often the cheaper coaches are cheaper for a reason. Qualifications / experience.

Has your child already started playing mini red tournaments?

Sorry ignore post. Personally I believe children can develop at different stages.

There are other children out there doing what your child is. To be fair it gives them a good start. Sometimes it's hard to see where the money and a pathway is but as you said you think she has pretty good technique so that does answer a lot.

I'd definitely encourage her to do other sports as this will help to.

Make sure you keep talking to the coach about her development and programme (best squads) and he/she should be able to answer any queries.

Hope she continues to love it.

Maeve DS too became an orange early last summer (still 8 now). At the moment he loses about 2/3rds of his matches (do wonder if part of this is because they keep seeming to send him out as player 1 or 2 as opposed to 3 or 4). Watching the early attempts at doubles is hilarious. He is not bad and has a competitive streak but not startlingly skilled (eugh the serve). His coach says maybe top 10% for his age locally but he is not on any LTA pick up and others from the club are. For us it is about fun & socialising so this is all through a village club not a gym/fitness chain.

Costs/time - DS does 1/2 hr with the senior coach (price is discounted) followed by 1/2 hr with a team leader to reinforce what he has just been taught. He also does 1 x 1hr sqd at £5 per hr (max 6 in sqd) and 1/2 hr £7.50 with a junior coach.

Hi Stop
She can volley in doubles and has a better backhand topspin than I do so that keeps me going when I hand over the money.The coaches are committed to tennis.

Tough
Thats a good programme at reasonable cost.
What do the kids who have been picked up by LTA look like ?Is it based on ratings or did they do Talent ID ?Are they super amazing ?

I think 8 is too soon to differentiate too much and I dont think the evidence is there to guide the LTA on what to look for that early.
Am I wrong ??
So many drop out ,need to encourage all I think..

My understanding (not being in the loop) is that the coach has put them forward for talent ID days. One of the girls just looks like a focussed player on court eg always in ready position, serious serve etc but bizarrely she doesn't always do well in tournaments. Whereas a lot of the others (incl DS) wander on to court, get distracted by the match on the next court, some still can't remember which side they've just served from. There is one boy who is amazing and at 11 he can beat some of the adults. He gets LTA funding and has done for a couple of years.

The LTA has 'performance centres' dotted around the country and the 'spotted' kids are asked to take an half-day out of school each week to train there. The kids who play there on the bog standard mini-tennis programmes seem to have slightly better skills (many attend more squads/lessons) but they do not win every tournament by a long way. They seem to have less fun with it though.

Saw this thread and being a coach myself thought i would post. When Ion Tiriac picked up a 14yr old Boris Becker he told the parents there were no guarantees. if there were no guarantees of him making it then there are no guarantees for anyone. Kids that do go onto make it are outstanding from a young age mentally as much technically. They stand out a mile and even a fair number of these stand outs dont make it. If your child loves their tennis and your budget allows for it then keep up the lessons to help them get to the best level they can under your circumstances. It could lead to some great experiences not to mention a lifelong passion. Tennis took me to university in the states where i got a degree and played at a good level. It lead me to senior county tennis where i was able to play with and against some tremendous players. Attending group coaching regularly will help people improve over the years and become decent players within club tennis but anything beyond club tennis needs individual coaching. hope your child keeps up their tennis in whatever form.

I think an hour is a long solo session for age 8, especially as you say she struggles to concentrate. At that age our coaches only do 30mins lessons. Squads are longer.

DS did the mini tennis programme and played matches around the county but didn't become a county player. He still enjoys tennis ten years on, plays no.1 pair for school and plays mens for his club. But his club has in recent years produced two very high ranking juniors so they're doing something right.

Agree with PP who said make sure she also plays another sport to ensure even growth.

Very interesting reading about this in the U.K. We’re in Aus and both my boys play tennis, being 10 and 8 yo. They both play UTR matches over here - do you have that there? It’s basically a rating that means you can play against similar level players wherever you go.
My 8 year old plays some green ball comps and some yellow. His coach says he should win about 2/3 of the time if he’s playing at the right level. Too many wins and it means the matches are too easy and they don’t progress. Too many losses and they get disheartened.

My 8 yo has one 2 hour squad and a 1 hr lesson per week and then a comp of 3-4 matches every other weekend or so. My 10 year old only plays yellow ball now and does 2 squads and 1 lesson per week and comps are again, every week/every other week.
8 yo also does athletics, cricket, football depending on the season (does cross country for the school) and older son also does football and athletics.
We pay a whopping $80 per lesson which is about £40 an hour I think. But our coach is an ex professional player and she is very good. Cost is standard for Aus though for an hour long private. We actually pay the same for music lessons so I guess it’s the hourly rate.
Tennis is pricy though. We spend thousands per year on lessons, comps, new racquets etc. They love it though so it’s kind of ok. Better than horse riding!