DISTRICT 2! RAJEEV DATT

"TEACHING ADULT BEGINNERS""

Hello friends and fellow tennis professionals. So, you’re a young tennis pro, just starting out?

Maybe you were a college player, or you were a great junior who discovered years later that you have a passion for teaching tennis and landed your dream job at your local country club. Or maybe you (continued)

DISTRICT 2! RAJEEV DATT

find yourself working for Parks and Rec. In either case, you will discover that depending on the time of day, your roster of students will include middle aged to senior adults, either just starting in the game we all love, or coming back to tennis after a long career that took up all their time, and kept them off the courts for decades. I know when I was a young pro, I made the mistake of trying to teach such students “high performance” techniques and styles of play. Oh boy, did I take my job seriously!

DISTRICT 2! RAJEEV DATT

I wanted to make every client as good as I could possibly make them! Well, unfortunately, I ended up losing a lot of these clients sooner or later, either to injury - because I worked them too hard - or because I was offering a service they just were not interested in. Over the years, I learned some valuable lessons; one of which is to customize the content and style of lessons to what the customer wants. As professionals, our job is to ask the right questions and be great listeners - sometimes we

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even need to read between the lines. What kind of lesson does a potential client want? Is it really to develop great technique? Or does this person want to get just good enough to be included in a regular doubles game? Is this person only taking up the game to spend more time with a spouse or loved one? Is this person simply out to get some exercise? The reason I mention all of these options is because of the following reasons. If you regard the human being first, facilitate this person feeling comfortable and happy, you

DISTRICT 2! RAJEEV DATT

will not only develop great friendships, but you will guarantee yourself a long term client and such friendships also lead to referrals, amongst other business opportunities.

When I was the director at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu, Hawai’i, I invariably would leave half an hour to a whole hour between lessons to shoot the breeze with my students. I’d regularly bring cut up fruits onto the court for a drill group to enjoy. These simple gestures of giving your time to others will endear you to your clients.

DISTRICT 2! RAJEEV DATT

I regularly had people from places like Australia, Japan, or Hong Kong plan their vacations based on whether I would be available for them.

Currently, I find myself coaching parents on how to be great tennis parents, by encouraging them to simply tell their children how much they love them and how proud they are of their child. Sometimes, as parents of juniors that compete at a high level, they forget that tennis is just a game. A gentle reminder and setting a good example yourself never hurts. I understand this might simply