AAHPERD, CMAA, IHRSA, NRPA, PTR, USPTA, USRSA, and USTA regional and national conventions and workshops total over 125 annual career-enhancing opportunities for tennis teachers and coaches, program directors, and facility managers. Before addressing the pros and cons of attending one or more of these each year, let’s talk about a principle that used a bell-shaped curve to illustrate it’s theory.
This principle states that, just like our physical bodies go through phases of growth, all organizations, businesses, and individual careers start off in a growth phase and then level off after some time. The theory goes on to say that as soon or just before this leveling off phase begins, that this is the critical time to add new ideas or services, something that will start a new upwards growth cycle. Without adding this new initiative, decay creeps in and once that downward pattern emerges (the down slope of the bell) it is extremely difficult to gain positive momentum once again.
Let’s start with what can be viewed as the “bad news” and end with the “good news,” workable alternatives to the current status quo.
The Current State of Affairs in Tennis (aka “The Leaky Bucket”)
While, some industries have trade organizations with mandatory educational requirements, in tennis there are none. This leaves us all to respond to the squeakiest wheel and the itchiest itch before us: Money. When tennis teachers attend conferences, their facilities may or may not pay for them to attend. In any case, they lose lesson income, usually the bulk of their paychecks. Therefore, the vast majority of tennis teachers do not attend any continuing education workshops or conferences. What percentage does attend? Barely above 10%. And, among managers and programming directors, most facilities do not pay their expenses either, so the vast majority of them do not attend either.
Since tennis as a sport publicly admits to having a “leaky bucket,” namely that each year millions start playing tennis but about the same number stop playing, we have to identify the causes of the leaks. Industry leaders will generally tell us that three of the leaks are due to the competition of other activities, public perception among young people that tennis isn’t cool, and the quality of the delivery system, namely the program organizers and tennis teachers.
Plugging the First Two Leaks
The umbrella organizations of the TIA and USTA, in cooperation with the PTR and USPTA, have taken on a massive campaign called Tennis Welcome Centers. In theory, the TWC initiative will plug and help repair the first 2 leaks in our bucket. First, an extensive ad campaign will move tennis to the top of the “to do list” for thousands, if not millions, of former and would-be tennis players. Second, the TWC initiative will help create a more public image that “tennis is cool.” The third leak may be more of a challenge. Here’s my theory:
The Third Leak
I thought of calling this section “The Missing Link” but hesitated. After all, the delivery system (consisting of the tennis teachers and program directors) is just one ingredient that determines how tennis succeeds or fails to maintain or gain increasing popularity. Some argue, however, that since players sign up for group tennis lessons and camps by the hundreds of thousands, that the methods of teaching do actually impact player retention in a big way. The other half of the delivery system is the programming. Players of all levels are looking to play with friends and family. Since tennis flourishes most in fun, social group events, the responsibility of the tennis program director is to constantly organize, adapt, and innovate programming to meet the needs of his or her player audience.
Just one example is Dallas’ monthly “Reebok Night” in which my 10-year-old daughter recently participated for the first time. Sally Schwartz, at Canyon Creek Country Club, has been running this junior event for years. She simply rotates the children through singles and doubles for four hours on a Friday night. Reebok supplies her with T-shirts and sneakers that are raffled off at each event. There is a fee, all levels can enter, and Sally tops it off based on court availability at 48 participants. And, there are no winners and losers. She just makes sure that everyone plays, and plays, and plays. She encourages cheering and provides snacks including snow cones. Heck, a snow cone is enough to make any child return, isn’t it?
(SUGGESTION: Bold inset of this sentence) The problem is that most program directors do not create programming like Sally Schwartz.
The question of group lessons will be covered in this next section.
Short Term Vision = Long Term Failure
Before moving on, we must recognize that, across the board, tennis professionals and programming directors are among the most personable individuals and best communicators in the world. No doubt about it. After all, they should be. That’s what they do, for long hours, day after day, and year after year. We would probably all agree that being well liked and being a good communicator is an essential quality of any teacher and program director. However, it should also be recognized that tennis professionals can depend on their friendly and out-going personalities and good communications skills a bit too much. Along with those all-important people skills, creative programming alongside leading edge group instruction is also a key to long-term success.
I travel and observe as many tennis lessons in progress as anyone in the industry, visiting about 50 clubs each years. Experts in group learning and most tennis teachers would probably agree that group tennis lessons should consist of at least these six ingredients:
- Fun and laughter
- High activity with little down time
- High success to failure ratios
- Preparation to play the actual game instead of learning only isolated strokes
- Learning in a minimally verbal but highly visual and kinesthetic environment
- Learning in a high-retention environment that includes the students cooperatively helping to teach one another
Unfortunately, what I observe is generally quite the opposite. About ten years ago, I conducted a study of 150 adult tennis players of various abilities who had been playing for years. At one time or another they had all taken group instruction. We asked them what they liked and didn’t like in the group lessons they had experienced. For the purpose of this article, here are the top three ingredients that they didn’t like.
- Standing in lines and waiting to be fed a ball before running returning to the end of the line
- Shadow swinging
- Having instructions shouted to them from across the net
Yes, sadly, most group tennis lessons are taught with the ingredients of the above list of student dislikes rather than from the primary list of six that should optimally be present within group instruction. The solution obviously rests in training and sharing knowledge.
Alternatives to Organized Conventions
Attending organized conventions and workshops is definitely a resource that should not be overlooked. But, for some, these are often prohibitively expensive for a large percentage of tennis teachers and program directors. Here are just a few alternatives that may be more accessible to you and your staff than you might have realized:
- Use the Internet – go to www.google.com and conducting a search by typing “teaching group tennis lessons” and you will find thousands of websites. In the first 10 there are several resources that you will find helpful.
- Use the resources of the PTR, USPTA, and USTA – each of these organizations conduct regional workshops and training in dozens of cities each year. Who knows there may be one in your town this very month. These organizations also have magazines, and publications to help with programming and group instruction.
- Contact local tennis leadership – ask the district or regional leaders of the USTA, USPTA, and PTR what local resources may be available or at your disposal. For example, I know that several USPTA divisions offer a free lending library of instructional videos as well as audiocassettes from national and regional tennis teacher workshops. Plenty of material at no cost.
- Observe other lessons – I remember always traveling to watch leaders in the industry and their tennis lessons over the years. Vic Braden, Peter Burwash, , Jimmy Evert, Melanie Moliter (Martina Hingis’ mother), Pancho Segura, Dennis Van der Meer, and Welby Van Horn, to name just a few. In your own area, there will be others who have strengths in areas where you have weaknesses. Don’t be shy. Call them and ask if you can stop by and observe. Most will not hesitate to extend a warm welcome.
Summary
Organized workshops and conventions are still wonderful opportunities for learning and networking in just a few days. But, remember that there are alternatives. To stay fresh and keep yourself on the upward side of that bell curve, keep learning and improving. And, remember, it’s all tax deductible as well.