Tennis coaching often gets portrayed as a glamorous job. Coaching a sport steeped in tradition, heritage, and often associated with luxury can seem appealing from the outside. But the dark reality of tennis coaching is stark, and I’ve experienced it firsthand. Behind the on-court action lies a world of challenges that many coaches don’t talk about. Here are some of the struggles I’ve faced and observed in the tennis coaching community.

1. Loneliness: The Silent Struggle

Tennis coaching can be an incredibly lonely job. Most coaches work in isolation, either because they are the only coach at the club or they run individual sessions and group squads solo. There’s rarely anyone to share challenges with, celebrate successes, or even lean on for support. Unlike office-based jobs where you can grab coffee with colleagues or chat in the break room, coaches spend their time on the court, alone. The anti-social hours further isolate us from friends and family, making it hard to form connections outside of work.

This loneliness can take a toll on your mental health. There’s no one to talk to after a tough session, no one to help pick you up after a difficult week, and no one to share the load with. It’s easy to feel like you’re in this on your own.

2. Peer Pressure and Competition: A Culture of Protection

If you’re lucky enough to work in a team environment, you’d think that would ease the isolation. However, the reality is often quite different. Most tennis coaches are self-employed, meaning your peers are also your competition. This creates a culture of protection—coaches guard their methods, players, and ideas, afraid to share for fear that another coach might “steal” their approach.

This competitiveness leads to unhealthy comparisons. Coaches either look at others and think, I’m much better than them, or, worse, I’ll never be as good as them. Neither is a healthy mindset. Instead, we should be seeing our peers as part of the same team. There’s more than enough room for everyone in the tennis world, and collaboration should take priority over competition.

One of the best ways to grow as a coach is through peer-to-peer feedback, but many coaches hesitate to ask for it. By sharing our experiences and learning from each other, we can all improve. But fear and competition often get in the way, preventing us from building a supportive coaching community.

3. Imposter Syndrome: The Hidden Battle

Imposter syndrome is something I’ve seen in almost every coach I’ve spoken to. Tennis is full of egos, whether from former players now coaching, so-called “performance” coaches, or coaches who have a reputation for developing top-level players. This often leaves other coaches feeling like frauds in their own jobs, leading to anxiety, stress, and burnout.

As a coach mentor, I can tell you that no matter the level of experience or success, all tennis coaches have the same insecurities. The problem is that we hide these feelings, worried that our peers or players will see them as a weakness. But suppressing these emotions only makes things worse, and it’s time we acknowledged that imposter syndrome is rampant in the coaching community.

4. The Copy-and-Paste Mentality: Playing It Safe

Peer pressure, lack of support, and imposter syndrome all contribute to the “copy-and-paste” mentality that dominates tennis coaching. Coaches are often afraid to try new methods—like Constraint-Led Coaching (CLA) or ecological dynamics—because they’re worried about what their peers or players might think. Instead, they stick to traditional methods, following the same tired patterns and routines that have been in place for decades.

But playing it safe doesn’t work in the long run. In 2020, I found myself an unhappy tennis coach, frustrated with the lack of progress and innovation in my coaching. I realized that sticking to old methods was holding me back and limiting my players’ development. The fear of stepping outside the box was stifling creativity and growth.

Breaking the Barriers: My Tennis Coach Academy

All of these issues—loneliness, peer pressure, imposter syndrome, and the fear of trying new things—are why I set up My Tennis Coach Academy, an online coach education community. The goal of the academy is to bring like-minded, professional, and development-focused coaches together to share ideas, tackle challenges, and break down the barriers that have held us back for so long.

At the heart of the academy is its community area—a social media-style platform with a newsfeed where coaches can share their ideas, challenges, or successes. Dedicated groups, such as monthly coaching challenges, encourage coaches to upload clips of lessons and engage in peer-to-peer reviews. Monthly meet-ups allow us to come together and discuss coaching topics, share our wins, and offer support for our struggles.

In addition to the community, the academy offers an extensive library of coach education content. With over 70 hours of webinars and courses, alongside 350 practice designs and drills, coaches have access to a wealth of resources to improve their knowledge and practice. By creating a space where coaches can collaborate, share, and learn from each other, I hope to foster a healthier and more supportive tennis coaching community.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to take a sneak peek behind the scenes of My Tennis Coach Academy and see how we can work together to break down these unhealthy barriers in coaching.