Our son is seven, quite active and sporty, so we decided to get him enrolled into a tennis class
First was Sunny Jacob in Ladies Club, Pune. He had about 10-15 students for his one hour class and charged about Rs 800 for a month / 12 classes a month. The format is that someone hits balls at you from across the net and all the students stand in a vertical line and hit the ball back. As soon as you hit the ball, you go the back of the line and await your turn. So with so many students there are 2 disadvantages straightaway – a) you get to hit very few balls b) there is very little time for feedback / correction – no time to say ‘ no, that’s not good, here try again etc’. The final straw came when we realised that Mr Jacobs rarely gets involved in the coaching himself but instead delegates it to ‘marker / ballboy’ type assistants. Within a very short while we started to look out for other options and when we got one in nearby residency club, we pulled the plug.
So we came to Ajit Sahil, Residency Club, a posh-er place, better courts and environment. He was much younger and fitter than the amiable, portly Sunny Jacobs and seemed very professional. He straightaway said that individual lessons (my preference) would be a waste for someone so young and so we went in for the group lessons. He clarified immediately upon my asking that it would be either him or his 2 assistants, both qualifed coaches themselves, no markers at all. Seemed good and we went for it.
2 days back I had the opportunity to watch almost a whole class. The format was same as Sunny Jacobs (which I knew) but I was furious
- There were quite a few kids (about 10-12) and it was plainly obvious that one person (the assistant coach) was not being able to cope
- There were a couple of disruptive kids, for example, who didn’t hit a clean ball through the class, were completely disinterested in the tennis part of the hour, and spent their time troubling other kids by pinching them, barging into the line, pulling hair etc
- The coach himself stood by without a care in the world. He spent the first 25 minutes talking to an adult friend who stood beside him and another 25 minutes talking on the mobile phone.
- The last 15 minutes were spent in making the kids run around the tennis courts in a relay race. While I agree fitness is important but surely at that age what we’re paying the guy for is tennis knowledge ? and a relay race, while an interesting format, just makes it stretch out and last 15 minutes – a fourth of the whole class !
So at the end of the class I confronted the coach. And he really couldn’t care less – for him it was all about making money. Yes, there are too many kids but what can I do, I need to make money and if you want more attention then you can take individual classes. Yes, there are two kids who are disruptive, I’ve complained to their parents as well but what do you want me to do – hit them ? When gently pointed that there are better ways and I’ve seen them in the UK – pat comes the reply, ‘well, will you pay me UK rates as well ?’. I pointed out that he doesn’t have UK costs either but he didn’t get the point - people here just convert pounds from the salary into rupees, not the costs - for example, the cost of renting a court for an hour in Slough (not the best of places) is £15 per hour ! But there was no point in taking this further. I pointed out that he wasn’t being professional but he looked at me and said that this is the best he can do and I have to take a decision if not happy.
What really got me here was the complete lack of professionalism on his part. He couldn’t care less about the students / how they were picking up tennis / what could he do to make it better. Speaking on the cellphone / talking with someone else when he knows that one person is not being cope is pathetic and inexcusable – and it doesn’t make him any more money either. Also, according to me, instead of chasing money he should be chasing results. The whole system operates on word of mouth and if he manages to produce a few kids who do well in the club / local circuit, he will be able to make much more money than his current approach of trying to squeeze every penny from his current wards.
I spoke to other parents who were sitting and watching with me and they agreed with all the issues but shrugged their shoulders and said they didn’t know if anything better was possible and they were more concerned that their child got some physical exercise…so they were fine…
Anvam is now not going there as well. Seriously speaking, if I can just hit a few balls with him everyday on a tennis court he actually has a better chance of picking up tennis skills. I would love to find someone more technically equipped / who could do it more professionally but seems unlikely in the current ‘chalta hai’ environment !
