[tennisbiz] Re: Ball Machines

The amount you charge for a lesson depends on many things (e.g., Your skill
and certification, the quality of the facilities, the price other local pros
charge, the social-economic status of the student, and maybe even the
difficulty level of the stroke being taught). For private and semi private
lessons, the machine is a labor saving device for the pro. For one or two
students, it is less flexible and responsive-even with the expensive,
programmable ones that have remotes. An experienced pro should be able to
feed as well as a machine; therefore I don't think there should be an
additional charge for its use.

On the other hand there are some reasons to incorporate a machine in your
group lessons. Using a ball machine allows you to focus on the students'
performance rather than also having to ensure your feed is good. The
machine lends itself to drills for larger groups and permits you to pull one
student out of the group for special attention without disrupting the drill
for the other students. It even may be a good marketing move to advertise
that your lessons include state of the art machinery.

On Hilton Head Island, SC, and Sweet Briar, VA, VanderMeer pros feed by
hand; while Stan Smith pros on the island use the ball machines with no
extra charge.

Joe Rill
HS10scoach_at_aol.com

 
Received on Wed Jun 04 2003 - 09:57:09 CDT