The Art of Tennis

Top Menu

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Interviews
  • For Players
  • For Coaches
  • For Tennis Industry
  • Contact Us

logo

  • Home
  • About
  • Interviews
  • For Players
  • For Coaches
  • For Tennis Industry
  • Contact Us
For Coaches
Home›For Coaches›Tennis Lockdown – Part 1

Tennis Lockdown – Part 1

By rick
May 22, 2020
1992
0
Share:

Like most business owners, the last few weeks has been something else. The tennis industry is no different and what a wild ride it has been.

The circulation of the virus, Covid-19, has resulted with the government shutdowns of facilities, businesses and also how people can interact with each other.

So as new rules and guidelines were released, we, as tennis coaches, adapted our lessons to include more social distancing and introducing a no hand shake or high five rule. I was confident that we, as a sport and as an industry, were very well placed on the ‘risk’ scale of the virus and at no point felt the need to voluntarily stop our tennis program.

Then the day finally came where our main tennis facility, Scarborough Tennis Club, was jointly closed down between the City of Stirling local government and also tennis as a sport was considered to be unsafe by Tennis Australia/Tennis West and other government directions.

Over 400 weekly students needed to be informed that we were ceasing operations immediately. Even though the decision was out of my control, I felt the stress of how we deal with our clients and the disappointment of being the bearer of bad news to the coaching team and all the young players. This was an intense period.

But in a matter of 48 hours everything was sorted and for a few days anyway, I was pretty fired up about the situation. My business which I have built over 13 years had been shutdown overnight. All these tennis players played outside exercising in the sunshine, breathing fresh air, taking in vitamin D and physically and mentally improving themselves. I didn’t then and probably never will see how the argument for staying home is better than playing tennis in the outside? Given I had time on my hands, I spent a lot of time researching the vast number of other doctors coming forward with information on the virus which was contrary to so much mainstream media opinion. These contradictions continued with some businesses being allowed open and others not. In fairness to the authorities, this was and still is a tricky time for making the right decisions for the community and something that is new/unknown and highly contagious is clearly difficult to handle. Fair to say it takes a bit of getting used to when your business is shutdown, irrespective of the reason.

But for us in tennis, suddenly we couldn’t hit balls on a tennis court anymore. None of us could help others with their tennis game? Our purpose had gone and our future was uncertain. How long was this going to last? ​​ What do I do financially if this was to continue? Will this ever go back to being the same?​ Should I explore other options to earn income? I felt a huge wave of responsibility to provide for my family and then thinking about my coaching team and their future was simply overwhelming.

But any plan is better than no plan. I knew that I had to research and learn about the Government funding opportunities and also find ways to cut or eliminate costs for the business. I also knew that I had to keep communicating with our players/followers on social media by uploading some videos of fitness or tennis activities that could be done at home or in their daily exercise regime.

So on a piece of paper I wrote down the following:​

  • Government Funding
  • Expenses
  • Social Media​​​

Then I think I went back to my red wine and Ozarks on Netflix. Wasn’t all bad.​

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Previous Article

Playing for something bigger than yourself.

Next Article

Tennis Lockdown – Part 2

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

rick

Related articles More from author

  • For Coaches

    Learning Styles – Tactile-Kinesthetic (Learn by feel)

    August 25, 2015
    By rick
  • For CoachesFor Tennis Industry

    How I have run a successful tennis business for over 15 years with my phone on silent.

    August 30, 2024
    By rick
  • For Coaches

    Long Term Development of a Young Player

    April 22, 2015
    By rick
  • For CoachesFor Tennis Industry

    Tennis Lockdown – Part 2

    May 29, 2020
    By rick

You may interested

  • For Players

    Do you bend like a Frog or a Giraffe?

  • For Tennis Industry

    To lead.

  • For CoachesFor ParentsFor Players

    Nowhere to hide.

Timeline

  • March 17, 2025

    Can Ai help you choose which tennis string to use?

  • February 19, 2025

    Why tennis clubs need more than just a Club Coach.

  • August 30, 2024

    How I have run a successful tennis business for over 15 years with my phone on silent.

  • January 9, 2024

    Why tennis players need to buy and steal time

  • November 23, 2023

    The best, worst and overlooked parts of modified tennis

Latest Comments

About US

The Art of Tennis blog is for people wanting to learn more about how to play, teach or develop their tennis coaching business and club.
It is run by Rick Willsmore who is Director of Tennis at Scarborough Tennis Academy in Perth. Rick has a unique skill set which combines a passion for coaching and developing tennis players with innovative solutions and entrepreneurial flair.

Contact us

  • PO Box 424, Scarborough, WA, 6922
  • 0400 087 991
  • rick@scarboroughtennis.com.au
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Can Ai help you choose which tennis string to use?

    By rick
    March 17, 2025
  • Why tennis clubs need more than just a Club Coach.

    By rick
    February 19, 2025
  • How I have run a successful tennis business for over 15 years with my phone ...

    By rick
    August 30, 2024
  • Why tennis players need to buy and steal time

    By rick
    January 9, 2024
  • Can Ai help you choose which tennis string to use?

    By rick
    March 17, 2025
  • Recovery Between Points

    By rick
    December 13, 2011
  • Tennis Positions

    By rick
    January 12, 2012
  • Personality Types

    By rick
    February 20, 2012

Connect with Rick and The Art of Tennis

Connect with Scarborough Tennis Academy

© Copyright The Art of Tennis. All rights reserved.