Have you ever wondered how much a tennis coach is able to put in their piggy bank? Well, they can put in a lot or a little! It all depends on a variety of factors such as experience, location, and what type of tennis coach they are, according to Jean-Yves Aubone, a former ATP player and current coach.
That’s right. Not all tennis coaches have the same roles!
The majority of tennis coaches fall under one of the following three categories with different roles and responsibilities associated with it:
- Tennis coach that only gives lessons and clinics
- Tennis coach that runs a program
- Director of a tennis program or facility
The rare category, which will be discussed at the end, is the coach of a professional tennis player.
In the piece below, we look at the salary made by tennis coaches belonging to the different categories mentioned above.
Table of Content
Tennis Coach Who Only Gives Lessons and Clinics
Most tennis coaches fall under this category. These types of tennis coaches earn money two different ways: by giving a private lesson, or by running a group clinic.
A typical coach will charge somewhere between $65-$125 an hour for a private lesson. The Rick Maccis of the world can charge up to $500 sometimes!
A coach’s experience and location matters a lot.
The more experienced a coach becomes, the higher their rate will be. The higher the income of the surrounding area of the tennis center, the more they’ll be able to charge.
How much a coach earns teaching a group clinic depends if they’re getting paid a flat rate for their time, or if they’re getting paid per person participating.
If they’re getting paid a flat rate, they’ll earn on average between $25-$100 per hour. Experience is the biggest determining factor, and if they’re teaching juniors or adults. Many facilities pay less to run a junior clinic than an adult one. Though a few have started to pay the same amount.
If the coach is getting paid per person participating, then they’ll usually charge around $20 per person, and try to fill up the court!
A typical yearly salary for this kind of coach will be between $50,000-$120,000. Aside from the usual factors that determine their hourly rate, the amount of time on court a coach spends is the most important one. The more hours you’re able to spend teaching, the more you’ll make.
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Tennis Coach Who Runs a Program
This is where we start to narrow the coaches down. A smaller portion of tennis coaches run either a junior, men’s, or women’s program at a facility.
The teaching pro that is in charge of the program will get paid in two different ways. They’ll either get paid a salary from the facility to run the program, or they’ll keep the profits after all the costs to run the program are covered.
A few places will pay a coach both ways, but usually it’s one or the other. The salary to run a program depends on experience, location of the facility, and if it’s at a public tennis center or a private country club.
That salary can range from $15,000 a year to $50,000, with the majority in the $20,000-$45,000 range.
Regardless, the majority of the income a teaching pro earns will be from providing tennis lessons and clinics themselves. That’s when they get paid the most on an hourly basis.
A typical yearly salary for this kind of coach will be between $60,000-$120,000. It’s not that different than a coach who only teaches private lessons and clinics.
The main differences are that the worst case scenario of income is usually a little higher, and running a program helps a coach earn income without having to be on the court. In the long run, a lot of coaches prefer the ability to save their bodies!
Director of a Tennis Program or Facility
The director of a tennis program or facility has a wide range of incomes.
They can make anywhere between $60,000-$300,000, or even more! Once again, experience plays a factor, but so does the size of the facility, location, and if it’s public or private.
The bigger the facility, the wealthier the area surrounding the facility, and the more private it is, the more the director will make.
A director of tennis has the added benefit of being able to earn more income without being on the court. While a coach in charge of a program still earns the majority of their income while teaching on the court, a director does not. They are incentivized to stay off the court, and run a great program.
Directors of a tennis program or facility can sometimes receive a percentage of sales from the pro shop, a percentage of every tennis lesson and clinic coaches at their facility give, and bonuses for hitting certain revenue or membership goals.
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Coach of a Professional Tennis Player
Finally, we get to the most rare type of tennis coach.
The pay for a coach who works with a professional tennis player depends on who they are, who they’re working with, and the pay structure they have in place.
On average, these coaches make somewhere between $1,500-$2,500 a week, with the top coaches earning $4,000-$10,000 per week.
Some of the most high profile coaches of the top players have been rumored to earn $50,000 per tournament. The higher the player is ranked, the more they can pay.
Sponsors play a big roll in how much a professional tennis coach makes as well.
The more sponsors a player has, the more they can pay. You might get an 18 year old rising star that has many sponsors. They’ll be able to pay more than a veteran that is ranked higher, but isn’t a popular name and has no sponsors.
The bonus structure a coach has in place also affects their pay. Coaches will sometimes take a lower salary with a higher bonus payout for when great results occur.
Others take a higher salary with a smaller bonus or even no bonuses. The lower-ranked players don’t make enough to pay out big bonuses so their coaches are more than likely to be on a fixed salary.
A typical yearly salary for this kind of coach will be between $75,000-$120,000.
That is also not that different than the tennis coach who is permanently at a facility, or runs a program. What’s different is the lifestyle, and the upside in income.
The coach of a professional tennis player is rarely on the court for more than 4 hours a day, whereas a teaching pro can teach up to 10 hours.
A tennis player doesn’t train more than a few hours a day so once the training is done, the coach is also done on the court.
On match days, the coach won’t be on the court for more than 30 minutes! They’ll be on the court for the warm up, and then sit in a chair and watch the player compete for 2-3 hours.
The rest of their day will be filled with watching film, having conversations off the court with the player, helping them manage their life, and traveling.
Because there’s so little time actually spent on the court, it’s a physically more enjoyable job. They’re not wrecking their bodies teaching tennis all day.
They travel the world, see the highest levels of tennis, and if their player becomes one of the best in the world, they can earn between $200,000-$500,000 or more due to bonuses.
However, this comes at the cost of never being home, and rarely seeing their families. Nothing great comes without some sort of sacrifice!
