There are two types of tennis coaches: type 1 - for professional players or for aspiring professionals (for the junior competition players) and type 2 - for recreational players. They differ from each other based on what they teach and how they teach. If you are a professional player then a recreational coach will very hardly teach you anything, same thing goes the other way around. This is because they concentrate and specialize on different areas of the game. Here are some factors to consider when choosing the right tennis coach for you.
Recreational coaches
If you are just starting with tennis choose a coach that has worked previously with beginners or also started playing tennis late so he knows what tips and tricks to use to teach you the basics in an easy way. A good coach makes it easy for you, not harder. If your coach teaches you something that does not feel natural to you, it is probably wrong. The right technique shouldn’t hurt you or feel weird. If he uses some “new, modern or special techniques” such as tennis with tai chi style (yes, I came across this in Holland) then not just walk, but run away. There are easy ways how to teach somebody and difficult ways, but there are no special ways.
Unless you are looking for an entertainer, your coach shouldn’t talk more about what he ate last night for dinner than about tennis. Also, a good coach NEVER makes fun of his student. Sometimes it’s funny and even the best of us can’t resist to smile, but the coach should know how to laugh with people, not at them. A coach should be patient. Not everybody gets it at the first try and if a student can’t learn some technique a good coach should know more than just one exercise to teach it. A good coach would never tell you: “try different sport, because tennis is not for you” (unless you are looking for a team sport with a number on your tshirt).
Professional coach
Pro coaches are different level. They teach tennis from a completely different angle. The stroke technique comes second and the attention is on strategy, mental game, movement, how hard you hit the ball, where you hit it and how much spin you put on it. A pro coach is there to polish your game. A good pro coach has been on the tour himself or used to play high level tennis. So if you feel like your technique is good enough and you are looking to raise your game to the next level and get some deeper insight into how the game should be played aim for a pro coach. But if you are a beginner thinking a pro coach that asks for three times more money than the regular club coach should also teach me three times better then you are wrong. The pro coach usually doesn’t know how to teach the basics. He knows how to teach advanced stuff.
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