Player Retention Is the Hidden Killer
Did you know that a poorly designed tennis program can cost you up to 60% of your players?
A few years ago, I took over a struggling tennis club with just 86 players in the coaching program. Within 9 months, we turned that number into 226 active players—without a big marketing budget.
So, how did we do it?
Not with social media ads. Not with flashy promotions. But by transforming the on-court experience.
Let me take you behind the scenes of what changed.
Step One: Observe Before You Change
I didn’t rush in with new ideas. Instead, I spent a few weeks just observing:
- I helped coaches on court
- I watched sessions from the clubhouse like a parent
- I stood back and took in what players were actually experiencing
And what I saw was… frustrating.
Three fundamental mistakes kept showing up:
Mistake #1: Too Much Isolated Practice
Most sessions relied on basket feeds. Even with 8–10 players, coaches lined them up and fed balls from the basket.
When I asked why, the response was familiar:
“We’re working on the basics—they have to learn the technique before they can rally.”
But here’s the problem:
- Players stood in line for long periods with minimal touches.
- If you missed your two shots, you might not touch the ball again for several minutes.
- And worst of all? It was boring.
No one likes queuing. And players weren’t playing enough actual tennis.
Mistake #2: Too Many Demonstrations
Every session included multiple coach demos, each lasting a couple of minutes. When you have only 45 minutes total, and you’re pulling players in and out constantly, that time adds up.
The result?
- Players spent more time watching than doing.
- Sessions felt coach-led rather than player-driven.
Coaches were talking too much, showing too much, and leaving too little space for learning through play.
Mistake #3: Not Enough Competition
Most practices didn’t involve any scoring. There were no consequences for errors, no game-like tension, no stakes.
Tennis is a game of mistakes.
If we train without mistakes and consequences, we’re not preparing players for the real game. And we’re not helping them build the emotional resilience that matches demand.
What We Changed (And Why It Worked)
We made three simple, but powerful changes:
✅ Eliminate Basket Drilling
We ditched line drills and replaced them with rally-based tasks and live hitting scenarios.
✅ Limit Demonstrations
Coaches were asked to keep demos under 30 seconds and only use them when absolutely necessary. Most feedback was delivered in the moment, not as a group lecture.
✅ Add Competition—Everywhere
Every session, from warm-up to closing activity, had some form of challenge:
- Can you beat your previous score?
- Can your team complete a task first?
- Can you solve this tactical puzzle faster?
This shift made sessions feel alive. They became playful, purposeful, and much more like the real game.
The Results: Fun = Retention
Once players started enjoying sessions more:
- They stayed longer.
- They improved faster.
- They started bringing their friends.
This created social proof—we didn’t need to market the program heavily. Our best marketing came from players and parents talking about how much fun the sessions were.
Better still? We began producing County and Regional players within the first 9 months—not because we focused on “perfect technique,” but because we focused on better learning environments.
Enter the Constraints-Led Approach
This transformation was my first step into ecological dynamics and the constraints-led approach (CLA).
Instead of isolating skills, I started designing game-based practices where players:
- Made decisions
- Solved problems
- Learned through experience
Our job isn’t to explain everything. It’s to create the right environment and then get out of the way.
Final Thoughts: Your Program Doesn’t Need More Players—It Needs Better Practices
You don’t need a marketing team to grow your tennis program. You need sessions players don’t want to leave.
And that starts by:
- Eliminating boring, isolated drills
- Talking less and letting players play more
- Introducing meaningful competition at all levels
🎾 Want to see exactly how I redesigned my practices? Download my free PDF with 5 game-changing drills to use in your next session.
Until next time—build better environments, not just better explanations.
#TennisCoaching #PlayerRetention #ConstraintsLed #EcologicalDynamics #CoachBetter #TennisPrograms #GameBasedLearning
