After 24 years as a tennis coach, I've learned ten crucial lessons. Key takeaways include setting boundaries to avoid burnout, recognizing when to part ways with draining clients, prioritizing quality over quantity, maintaining health, and understanding the importance of connection over technical teaching. These insights can significantly improve coaching effectiveness.
After over 24 years in the industry, I’ve made almost every mistake a tennis coach can make. I’ve burnt out, overworked, undervalued myself, and overlooked what coaching really means. If I could go back, here are the ten lessons I’d drill into my younger self—lessons that could save you years of stress and struggle.
Lesson 1: Set Boundaries or Burn Out
Early in my career, I said yes to every lesson. Seven days a week. Any time, any place. I thought that’s what great coaches did. The result? No time for family, friends—or myself.
Advice to my younger self: Decide on your non-negotiables. A rested coach is a better coach—and one who stays in the game longer.
Lesson 2: Don’t Be Afraid to Fire Players
Not every client is worth the emotional cost. I once coached a national-level player who was always late, constantly tried to negotiate fees, and disrespected my time.
Hard truth: If a player or parent is draining you, walk away. They’ll likely leave anyway. Protect your energy.
Lesson 3: More Hours ≠ More Success
I used to believe the hardest-working coaches did the most hours. Then I met an elite coach working half my hours—getting better results.
Work smarter. Quality sessions trump quantity. Efficiency matters more than filling the calendar.
Lesson 4: Burnout Is a Choice
I ignored the signs: snapping at players, dreading the court, losing passion for tennis. Sound familiar?
Burnout isn’t sudden—it’s a slow leak. If you feel it creeping in, take the break before the breakdown.
Lesson 5: Loving Tennis Isn’t Enough
You might love the game—but if you don’t treat your work like a business, you’ll struggle. I did.
You need a sustainable career plan: marketing, income tracking, scheduling, retention, boundaries. Coaching without business skills is a short-term gig.
Lesson 6: You Can’t Coach Well If You’re Unwell
For years I skipped meals, chugged coffee, and lived on fast food. My health deteriorated—and so did my energy on court.
Healthy coaches make better decisions, have more patience, and are more creative. Fuel your body like a professional.
Lesson 7: Your Voice Is an Asset—Protect It
I was the shouty coach. Loud over multiple courts. Eventually, players tuned me out, and I lost my impact.
Learn how to use your tone, volume, and silence. Speak less, say more. Whispering can command more attention than yelling.
Lesson 8: Time Off Isn’t Laziness—It’s Leadership
I used to feel guilty for taking a day off. If I wasn’t coaching, marketing, or posting, I felt like I was falling behind.
Now I disconnect fully. No phone, no emails, no analytics. And guess what? My content performs betterbecause I’m not spamming the algorithm—I’m creating space for engagement.
Lesson 9: Stop Thinking Like a Tennis Coach
For 18 years, all my learning came from within tennis. In the last few years, I’ve learned more from other sports than I ever did from within our own.
Great coaches study human behaviour, not just grips and swing paths. Get out of your echo chamber and borrow ideas from elsewhere.
Lesson 10: It’s Not What You Teach—It’s How You Make Them Feel
Players forget your technical cues. They don’t remember the biomechanics lecture. But they always remember how you made them feel.
Connection beats correction. Tennis is a human game.
Which Lesson Hit Home?
I’d love to hear from you. Which one of these lessons resonates most with your coaching journey?
👇 Let me know in the comments.
And if you want to grow as a modern, confident, and impactful coach—
🎾 Join the My Tennis Coach Academy for practical tools, modern methods, and a supportive coaching community.
Steve Whelan is a tennis coach, coach educator, and researcher with 24+ years of on-court experience working across grassroots, performance, and coach development environments. His work focuses on how players actually learn, specialising in practice design, skill transfer, and ecological dynamics in tennis.
Steve has presented at national and international coaching conferences, contributed to coach education programmes, and published work exploring intention, attention, affordances, and representative learning design in tennis. His writing bridges academic research and real-world coaching, helping coaches move beyond drills toward practices that hold up under match pressure.
He is the founder of My Tennis Coaching and My Tennis Coach Academy, a global learning community for coaches seeking modern, evidence-informed approaches to player development.
👉 Learn more about Steve’s coaching journey and philosophy here: About / My Journey
