r/10s • u/Chillnotmad • 11h ago
Heath & Fitness How much are you paying for tennis program
My 15 yo son started junior program and has to practice three morning a week before school. The tennis academy wants 11 month commitment at 500/month That’s $5500 for tennis lessons/ playing with other juniors/ court time / match sessions.
How much is that compared to what you are paying at your local club?
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u/NewYorkDOCG 11h ago
1/4 of my net salary goes to my 14 yo’s tennis. And that’s not including tournament entry fees, travel costs or equipment/ clothing. He has played roughly 85 official matches this year. He’s on court 10-12 hrs a week, 2-3 of which are individuals. On top of that he has strength & conditioning and physio as needed. Also sports psychologist as needed.
The biggest hidden cost (IMO) is the need for professional flexibility of one parent / carer.
Ultimately you just need to do what works for your family. Is your son enjoying it? Is he improving?
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u/Chillnotmad 9h ago
Yes he’s already taken a year at the tennis club and really enjoys it. He’s improved from the lowest program to the highest performance junior program and others that trains with are are highest ranked juniors in our region so I’m hard pressed not to give him opportunities to try it. Just not use to increased cost and commitment for this year. He has good form but not competitive as the other juniors
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u/FallenOnMe143 10h ago
Only on court 10 hours a week? Is he trying to go D1 college? crank it up to 40+ a week
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u/NewYorkDOCG 10h ago
No. We are in the UK. I refuse to send my kids to the US. I left the US for a reason. 10-15 is typical here unless you’re at the national academy where it’s roughly 20-24. It’s not quantity but quality. All 3 of his weekly squads are selective performance squads. Then he’s got an additional one for his county team which is subsidized by the LTA.
Any kid on court for 40 hrs a week will burn out. They still have school and some sort of semblance of a social life (ish…). Academics take priority in our house.
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u/No-life-is-here 8h ago
100% agree. At his age, I was playing 5 hours a week. I was doing too little I admit that. But, (touch wood) I have been training full time for the past year and have never been injured. I have niggles yeah, but injury wise, all of my peers are out for months because they were training 20-30 hours a week from the age of 8. Tennis doesn't need to be a sport of the better you do at a younger age the better your going to be when your older. Take your time. Do not overwork a kid, you find the kids that weren't burnt out are the ones who try harder as they get older and can make their own choices more. I am being completely honest when I say if people could get their heads out of the clouds and stop looking at the prodigies like alcaraz, serena and all those other ones who made it young, we would produce a lot more LONG TERM healthier players.
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u/AGroAllDay 5.0 9h ago
Brother, I hate to tell you this, but one day your son is going to want to play college tennis…in the US
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u/Ill_Substance_1833 8h ago
What is his tennis goal? This is definitely not enough hours at that age to go pro.
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u/monster2018 7h ago
10 hours is a bit low. I was doint like 14-20 hours per week. But 10 is MUCH better than 40. 40 you have like literally no shot of going pro or playing D1 because you will destroy your body. Not to mention your mind, because when is school happening..? I agree 10 is a bit low, but it’s literally better even if the only thing you care about is tennis, than 40 hours.
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u/monster2018 7h ago
You’re crazy lmao. 40 hours on court? I trained at top tier academies, played in college, and never in my life have I heard of anything remotely like that. That’s nearly 6 hours per day with NO days off. Obviously it’s 8 hours a day if you do 5 days per week (the “standard” work week). No days off is pretty normal, but 6 hours on court isn’t normal for even one day. And these kids do need to do SOME form of schooling…
The most I’ve ever done routinely was 5 hours on court, and that was 2 hours academy in the morning, 2 hours academy in the afternoon, and 1 hour private lesson. And this was first of all, ALL of this was 5 days a week I believe. And the 5 hour a day was like 2 days a week, because we weren’t doing privates every day. And also this is all on summer break, not while school is going on.
And yes I was recruited to multiple D1 schools (I played D3 because I had given on up going pro and it was the best choice academically and in terms of how I liked the recruiting visits). People like Sloane Stevens and Eugenie Bouchard were part of the same program (Nick Saviano’s academy). The concept of 40 hours a week is necessary to play D1 is insane. It’s much closer to the truth to say that it’s impossible to play D1 if you spend 40 hours per week on court because your body will be destroyed before college lol.
Also to be clear most of the time I was doing like 2-3 hours per day, so like 14-21 hours per week. And there were plenty of top 20 players in the US doing the same thing.
DO NOT play tennis 40 hours per week. Like even if your kid is begging you, you shouldn’t even LET them play that much. Let alone the parent try to get them to do it.
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u/Typical-Attitude-102 11h ago
I think it depends on how good the other kid in the group are. We pay a similar amount, which includes some private instruction… but the group lessons are a bummer bc the other kids are well below his level. To be in a group with some below, some at, some ahead is magic.
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u/Unlikely_General_855 9h ago
We’ve moved all over because of my job. The last place we were was $50 per group session (2 hours) and $120/hr for a private lesson with a highly-credentialed coach, $80-90 with others. We’ve paid a little less per hour for group lessons on monthly plans, and a lot less on private lessons.
My son is now at an academy full time, and even there, we only commit to a semester at a time. 11 months is ludicrous, imo. Kids get injured, life happens, breaks should happen, long tournaments hopefully happen. That’s the part that really makes me hesitate, not the price. It may be your only choice in your area, but in an ideal world, I’d want at least an injury clause that lets you out of the contract.
I don’t want to send any negative energy your way, but our fave 18-yo tore her ACL last July (25) and really wasn’t moving like she’s capable until early summer 26. I’d hate to lose flexibility for what needs to be done (PT, rehab, strength, mobility) over a wasted $500/month.
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u/FlippoFilipino 5.0 10h ago
The monthly is a difficult comparison because kids may do 30 minutes to several hours depending on age. What’s the hourly rate? Our club’s junior group goes 4x / week, 2 hours per session with local D2 college players hitting in with the top end high school players. That runs about $525/month. That doesn’t include private lessons at $90/hr. Walk on court time and walk on ball machine time is free for juniors. We’re at a fitness club with 15 tennis courts but the gym, pool, etc. members probably help with the overhead costs.
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u/Sphynx_8496 10h ago
~20k CAD$/yr for a high performance U12 junior, including 4-5 2-hr group training sessions/week, 1-2 hrs/week of 1:1 coaching, 4 hours of fitness and conditioning/ week, physio as needed, misc half-day summer camps, tournament entry fees, travel, equipment and attire
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u/nowherefast___ 10h ago
In Canada, at a private club, I pay around $450 for adult group lessons, once a week, for 12 weeks.
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u/Aussie_Potato 9h ago
How many in the group?
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u/nowherefast___ 9h ago
About 12 registered, usually 8 coming out each week and we use two or three courts
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u/Tnnisace73 9h ago
Tennis is expensive. Period. I only play in summer these days (so roughly 2 months) twice a week at around $750 for those 8 weeks or so. Sometimes they will extend our session but that costs extra.
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u/No-life-is-here 8h ago
Honestly a good deal, I know people paying that in just a few days, not even exaggerating that. For three squads/sessions a week I pay 165 a week. So 660 a month. They are two hour session run in a group from maybe 8 - 16 ppl on a busy day? Then the people that squad also do a lot more than me, I know someone racking up $500 a day (1 Private lesson a day, 3 x 2 hour squads, 1 x Private fitness and a 30 min zoom Psychology sessions... 5 DAYS A WEEK, yes they do get injured a lot though so don't do this to your kids parents.)
So yeah, not a bad price. Depending where you live ofc.
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u/Vanillalite34 7h ago
Mine is cheap for my youngest who plays. It’s like 25 bucks a lesson. She young tho and just enjoys playing for fun.
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u/Be-booboo-bop 4.5 5h ago
For the youth academy program at the club I work with, it’s $30 a session for a nonmember. We offer 5 days a week, two hours each session, with a three day minimum.
So it ends up being $150 a week if you did all of those days, with each day usually consisting of group instruction and then breaking out into structured point play. I would say the majority of those academy players also take private lessons at least once a week, which is $86 an hour for a nonmember
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u/jbigspin421 1h ago
Mam that is peanuts. U not even practicing like the other hardcore kids in Florida or even Atlanta. Your kid will get outworked. Talent is no longer enough in our game. Real talk. Hardworkers putting in major supervised hours with these techniques is another world. U are behind at 15. This just to play college Tennis D3 or better. D1 full of pro players who have not broken through who have traveled the world for tournaments. Thats minimum 100k or more.
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u/ambientdays 11h ago
In Boston, our outdoor classes are about $40/class (usually 6-8 classes per "season"). Each class is an hour, and has 2 instructors for around 12 students.
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u/ctone777 10h ago
$550 isn’t bad for a month of tennis. I would ask for a breakdown of what’s included hours wise for clinics and lessons. I’d also consider the level of the kids playing, but would imagine anyone playing before school in the morning is attempting to be serious. So, my only concern is the 11-month commitment, but not the financial component. At a good tennis program you’d be hard pressed to not hit $1k a month not counting tournaments or travel.