Beyond The Baselines

Simon Gale, Director of Racquets, USTA National Campus

Simon Gale is at the top of our industry. As the Director of Racquets at the USTA National Tennis Center in Lake Nona, Florida, Simon oversees four head professionals and nearly one hundred courts across the campus. From hosting national USTA league finals to teaching locals on a daily and weekly basis, Simon has taken the USTA National Campus to new heights. And this month, he's taking it to new sports.

Padel and Pickleball are set to be a part of the scene at the Lake Nona facility, which houses also the USTA National Junior Development program. Add this to all the events that the campus hosts, it's one bustling place and Simon supervises all of it. He's excited to see where the two new racquet sports being offered might take tennis in the future. He sees the various racquet sports aligning to help build participation in each.

We catch Simon at an interesting time. Coming out of the pandemic, the National Campus will be able to host travelling tennis players once again. Although there is a healthy number of locals, both adults and juniors, who use the facility, upwards of 40 percent of usage is from players not from the Orlando area. Simon is readying his staff of approximately 40 certified teaching professionals for the task of seeing more players and more hours on the court.

People Management

Simon's philosophy and his experience up and down the East Coast of the United States from Connecticut to Brooklyn and now down to Florida has led him to ask the question when hiring a member of staff: "How's your people management? Can you build a team?" Simon has been forced to build an enormous team of instructors, with four head professionals alone, on staff at Lake Nona. He wonders if the pathway for teaching professionals might be too simple and asks what we as an industry can do to change that so we broaden the experience of up and coming professionals.

He points to the need for people management not only while working with his own staff, but also dealing with the hundreds of events that the National Campus hosts each year. The team of event planners at Lake Nona is quite large and working with them and visiting groups, companies and teams all force Gale to manage people more often than he gets to teach tennis. "Being a good instructor should be a given at our level." But being a good manager of staff and clients is a constant learning process.

Denise Duda, one of the leading Directors of Fitness in the country, is this week's guest on the BTB Podcast.

Denise Duda recently retired as Director of Fitness and Wellness at Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club in Orchid, FL. Having accepted a new challenge up in New York for just a few months a year, Denise now being semi-retired opened up to us about her work, her programming and her secrets behind her incredible success at one of the leading Platinum Clubs of America.

What Denise never neglected was her time within the corporate hospitality industry. She brought that education and those member-centric ideas with her to her roles in fitness. Doing so paid dividends as Denise is viewed as one of the leading fitness directors in the country.

From her method of welcoming new members and getting them involved in the program, to her supervising what are in effect three different departments - fitness, wellness and the spa - Duda created a beloved team of experienced instructors and a program that included one of the best-attended group exercise programs in Florida, if not in the country.

Telephone, Telegram, Tell A Grandmother... Word Of Mouth Is Your Marketing Tool

Denise believes that once you hook a client, word of mouth around the club or facility is by far the best marketing tool available to any director of tennis or fitness. Building a group excercise program relies not only on the strength of your instructors, but also how you time the classes so that people stick around the facility and "double-up" on classes with one visit to the fitness studio.

Fitness, Wellness and Spa - three hats, one director

Pilates Is The New Star

Throughout Covid and even now, as we as an industry come out of the pandemic, it appears that Pilates is the new star within the fitness arena. Although group exercise is making a comeback, Pilates really never lost traction. Slower to come back, says Duda, will be the spa side of the business - massage and facials - as clients are still somewhat apprehensive about those services and the level of social distancing possible.

In terms of her own teaching on the floor? She says that most fitness-lovers see only what is in front of them in the mirror - their front! Remember the posterior and that most of our strength for posture and sport comes from the back. "Don't neglect your back!"

Please join us as we reflect on a career that will be hard to match within fitness. Denise Duda joins the BTB podcast.

A Podcast in our Series: Women in our Industry

Cari Buck grew up at one of the elite clubs in Massachusetts, The Wianno Club.. Her father was the director of tennis at the summer club in Osterville, Massachusetts. She's never forgotten those days, and from those childhood summers and watching her father managing and marketing a tennis department she knew what she wanted to do. Cari, did just that, and is one of those rare finds: a female director of tennis. Cari is well-versed in our industry, having worked as a general manager for World Team Tennis, as a USTA coordinator and marketer, at the Tennis Channel, and, most recently, as a department head - a Director of Tennis. And as the latter, she believes the future is bright for women in the industry.

Cari Buck is one of those rare finds, a female director of tennis.

Tennis Is the Vehicle, But It's Really About Service and Marketing

Cari believes that we often neglect our calling as directors. We are not only in the tennis industry, we are also in the business of hospitality, Being a pro, a director or any department head "is all about customer relations." Keeping social media up to date, engaged and working with your members and students on a day-to-day basis is instrumental. When a pro is on the court all the time, they never have the time to look at the big picture. Income is from time on the court, but the time off the court is invaluable to build business and customer relations skills. "Making sure your management, your staff, your members - all of them are getting what they want."

Confidence Without Arrogance

As a director of tennis, the dedication to the role and the club - the director needs to be invested with the members - is a way to show the added value of a great director. "Members want to see you off the court and have time with you to discuss ideas off the court." As we at BTB have been saying for years, Cari realizes that listening to members is just as important as building a forehand. We can take what we learn as a singles player and how we have had to coach ourselves to a director's role, which at times can be quite lonely.

What To Look For In a Director

Clubs run searches, with search consultants and executive search firms, far too often without really understanding what that club should be looking for in a new director of tennis. "You can't teach personality," says Cari, and we have to understand that a director is always on show. Too often, she believes, clubs look at the candidate too much on the court and too often don't look deeply enough at matching the values of the club to the suitable candidate.

Doug Cash Joins the BTB Podcast

Doug Cash, founder of CashFlow Tennis, joins the BTB Podcast and discusses how Covid has changed the club industry and what to expect as we head through 2021. Nothing will remain untouched by the virus, says Doug. From the large fitness national chains which have lost up to 70 percent of their monthly dues revenues, through to country clubs which, on the other hand, have been seen as sanctuaries and have raised dues. Every facet of club membership is evolving as Covid declines.

Doug Cash, owner of CashFlowTennis.com, joins the BTB Podcast this month.

Doug escaped the on-court grind of the industry and moved in to management in which he has worked with over 50 clubs. He received a few calls asking for help back at a time when there were few who knew how large clubs could operate profitably and has never looked back. Moving into the arena of growing the game, Doug has worked with the USTA and the Tennis Industry Association.

Cash, like most management consultancies in the business, recommends that dues and initiation fees should go up on an annual basis. If not, over time, the club will find itself in dire financial straits.

A Pro On Every Court

Doug relates how some clubs in the Northeast are requiring a professional on every court. "You can't make a court reservation without a pro," says Doug. Doug sees this as the way forward and will be a function of tennis clubs in the future. "The pro-led hour of court time is so much better in the long run. You hit more balls, you have more fun, you learn a little bit, the pro is a ringmaster... you get more exercise and you don't have to worry if your fourth shows up."

Antiquated Compensation Packages Need Revision For This Century

Doug dislikes the antiquated payment and compensation models that currently exist n the tennis industry. As is said widely, the house always wins. If paid through a percentage, an instructor is always hampered by the club's cut which remains the same percentage, even as lesson and clinic prices go up. Doug believes because of this, there is a scarcity of teaching professionals, with clubs now across the country clamoring for new professionals to meet current and much higher demand. Although compensation is going up slowly due to the lack of supply, Doug feels that raising club dues and initiation fees over the long term can inhibit raises in lesson and clinic rates.

Doug notes that a starting truck driver for Walmart makes $82,000 per annum starting out as a brand new driver. "Very few starting tennis professionals start out at that level," says Cash who feels that compensation simply starts out too low right from the outset.

Our bi-weekly BTB Podcast has over 10,000 listeners. Please subsribe on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Doug is a specialist in creating cash flow within a department. And he gives us a couple of his secrets along the way on the podcast. So click above and have a listen as he discusses how we, as an industry, will need to adjust even more than we have post-Covid. And, if you like our podcast series, please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

CNN and Fox News Contributor Vero Gibbons joins the BTB Podcast!

Vera Gibbons joins the podcast today for a discussion of all things tennis, Presidents and the steady migration of Americans to Southern States and what that might mean for tennis and court availability next winter, dinner reservations and traffic up and down the Florida peninsula.

Vera, a heralded newscaster, started her career on the financial side of journalism at the Kiplinger Report. She moved on to CNBC and the show "High Net Worth" and was a part of CBS’s financial team at "The Early Show." Many of you will know her, more recently, as a contribute to both CNN and Fox News.

Vera Gibbons has been in all the New York news studios but now discusses why home is where the mic is.

But a few years ago, Vero took a career life leap and changed it all up and started her "NoPo" (No Politics) newsletter. The news digest daily email woke its readers up with all non-political - from finance to fitness, from dining to travel. Vera sold "NoPo" in 2020.

But, like many during a Pandemic, she started a "NoPo" podcast and is now in five local radio regions. Gibbons' No Po Podcast is her new, unlikely medium and she discusses how it is different from being on a 3-minute segment on CNBC, Fox, or CNN compared to a 30-minute podcast.

We discuss all things tennis and why she has left New York City and moved to the Sunshine State. How will the courts in Florida deal with the onslaught of northern migratory players, especially once the large leagues start to play again?

She feels as if her new home in Palm Beach is starting to feel a bit like New York as the money managers and New York companies start to allow their employees to move here and work remotely. Vera doesn’t see a way back to a normal 9 to 5 work week for some industries. That lifestyle could be "toast", says Gibbons.

Vera has played on historic courts up and down the East Coast of Florida from her native South Coast, Massachusetts and courts that still defy Har-Tru and are greenish clay from the Berkshires. to the hallowed, green grounds of the Tennis Hall of Fameand to the blustery courts on private estates and clubs on the bluffs in Newport. Her new Palm Beach home has brought her to the courts buffeted by the South Atlantic from Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach down through Lantana and Manalapan.

Vera Gibbins likes to wear white not just on the tennis courts.

The US Open was truly missed, she says. As one of the sporting and calendar gems in New York Vera can't wait for the lights to switch back on in Flushing Meadows so the tournament can regain its regal normality at the end of this summer..

We talk about Joe Biden and his golf game and how the media might report on his sporting endeavors and bemoan the fact that Presidents really just play golf… although a few do quietly play tennis!

Butch Buchholz had an idea. He had an idea as to what professional tennis should look like. He had a dream and he played and toured the world with a vision. And in August of 1967 he played in front of a packed Centre Court at Wimbledon and guaranteed the presence of paid professional players returning to Wimbledon in June of 1968 and the beginning of the Open Era.

Wimbledon, in 1967, had invited 8 of the touring pros - back before pros were allowed to play at all the Grand Slams. The pros were a group of "vagabonds" and the chairman of the club Herman David, said if you fill Centre Court, I don't care what the ITF says, you're invited to come play as pros at Wimbledon. They filled Centre Court.

Buchholz is the man behind what we know as today's ATP and WTA Tours. In his own words he admits he turned pro too early - but he got what he wanted in the end. A tour, a tournament and a tennis life.

As Executive Director of the ATP Tour, Buchholz has always worked hard on behalf of the players. He founded, almost singlehandedly, the Lipton Championships, first held in Delray Beach and now known as The Miami Open. "Golf has The Players, and we always wanted something like that for our tennis professionals." The Lipton, which began as the professionals' tournament, was the first tournament stop that had both the men and the women playing together. Butch fought the tour and demanded that the paying spectators really wanted to see the men and women compete at the same venue. And, basically, that's what we have today at Indian Wells, The Miami Open and all the Grand Slams. Butch was, and still is, ahead of his time.

Andy Roddick accepts the NASDAQ trophy from Butch Buchholz

He fought the neighbors of Crandon Park at the zoning board and battled the powers of Miami-Dade County to build what many players have called the best arena in the sport.

His love and passion for the game and his fellow players led Buchholz to establish a fund which acted as a pension for all the professional players, which exists to this day.

When journalists would rank the players long before the points system, Buchholz was ranked as high as number five in the world and was continually named the best American player. Holding the career Grand Slam as a junior long before the pros were allowed in the main draws, Buchholz travelled the world and tried to time his entry to the pro level. He looks with great fondness back on his years traveling the world as one of the Handsome Eight, and laughs when he tries to compare today's tour with the tour back in the last 60s.

Junior, Be Aware Of Your Surroundings.Butch Buchholz

Butch takes us through how he built his first 10-court club, Town and Tennis in St. Louis, and how he quickly realized there was so much more to the tennis industry than chasing yellow fuzzy tennis balls around a court. He had no idea the meaning of "cashflow" He met a businessman in the St Louis area, Solon Gerhman, who went on to lead one of the leading real estate firms in the country. Solon took a tennis lesson three times a week with Butch. But, as Butch states, "I got the real lesson and training and in reality received an MBA from my student." The lesson learned? "It's all about knowing your surroundings and who you are meeting and speaking with."

The last time Butch hit a tennis ball was at Centre Court three years ago and Wimbledon, for Butch, is still the greatest arena holding his best-loved memories. He'll be happy if that will be the last tennis ball he hits as he sets out to keep his score on the golf links under his age!

Margit Bannon Joins The Podcast In Our Series On Women In Our Industry

Magit Bannon, USPTA instructor, yoga teacher and now entrepreneur takes us through her jump into self-employment. Having a court in her backyard and looking at her 30 minute commute for many years, she has jumped into business for herself with her Play Tennis, Practice Yoga brand, based in Punta Gorda, Florida.

What she didn't realize? The amount of time she would be spending on marketing and social media along with the communication. But Margit is happy to be crerating new relationships in the industry and looking to move forward with her business once travel is safely back to a sense of normality.

After working in Columbus, Ohio at the Olympia Club and then another 12 years at a yacht club in Florida, Margit decided to step out and use her childhood court as her foundation for a new idea - Yoga for Tennis. Her YouTube Channel has just reached 200 subscribers but her zeal for what she does on and off the court shows through on her videos, her Instagram account and her work with her clients and colleagues in the industry.

Play Tennis, Practice Yoga Founder Margit Bannon. Is it us or does that Wilson Blade head size look a bit too big?

Through social media and building her YouTube channel, Margit has built a booming business and sees herself traveling with her Yoga for Tennis methods. Margit, through her entrepreneurial spirit, is now an internet star boasting just an IPhone and a tripod - not much needed these days to gain followers and gain a following on social media if you have a great idea and the discipline and diligence to follow through - which Margit does.

Having played tennis at a Division 1 level and competed at the highest levels in American junior tennis at events such as the Orange Bowl while training under the eyes of Nick Bolletieri, Margit understands the pressures on the court. The idea of calming one's self and getting outside and beyond the pressure of, say, a college tennis match - well it can make the difference between winning and losing. Everyone and every coach is looking to strengthen the mental game just as much as the physical game. And Margit is at the cutting edge through her mindful work and her yoga practices. Please visit her YouTube Channel: Play Tennis, Practice Yoga!

Kelsey Waite, Head Professional at Bethesda Country Club Joins the BTB Podcast

She once heard the term unicorn used to describe a female teaching tennis pro, and that picqued her interest. Kelsey Waite had completed her college degree and was figuring out how to apply her newly found skills in science and French when someone asked her to help teach tennis. She's now a Head Pro at one of the country's most elite clubs.

Kelsey Waite - from waitress to head professional.

Coming to the industry unexpectedly, Kelsey has used her outside influences from college and life to help create her persona on the court. As a "theater geek" she realizes that running a clinic or being at the helm of a program is a production and is, in a way, theater in its own. She loves being on show.

On-Court Programming Is Taking Over at the Private Clubs

Not sure the reason behind it, but her members are passing up their doubles game for tennis programming with the pros. "They're giving up their spot times for doubles," says Waite who teaches on average two to three hours of live-ball clinics every day to her membership. She's not complaining but is noticing the change and how she and her team are adapting to it.

She's also noted that the teenage female members are more likely to come out to programming, especially if she's the instructor. Juniors and adults, alike, are flocking toward the hour and a half "workout" of live-ball clinics rather than play their weekly doubles games.

Being a Female in the Industry Is an Advantage

Rather than feeling isolated or excluded from the inferred "men's club" of male tennis instructors, Kelsey feels she breathes new life into the industry and sees being a woman as an advantage. She believes her career and her rise up the ladder of success could be partly due to she being a "unicorn" - something she giggles at while she takes names and pushes out the programming barriers at Bethesda.

Following her nerve-racking certification test and not having taught that much, Kelsey believes that the new mentoring requirement for incoming instructors through the USPTA and PTR is a long overdue requisite. Kelsey realizes how lucky she has been in the industry by being able to experience working and teaching at both resorts and public facilities, along with the past five years at Bethesda Country Club. Her comparisons between work and teaching styles at resorts and country clubs is extremely interesting, and her ideas as to how she would like to progress are inspiring, for females and males alike.

There's so much more on her podcast, make sure you subscribe!

Harry Gilbert really does direct an orchestra, an orchestra of well-trained staff members, junior players and adult club members. He does it with aplomb and always with a smile on his face as he has waved his racquet and baton at clubs up and down the East Coast and on the islands for the past 40 years.

Director of Tennis for the last 23 years at Waccabuc Country Club, located in the hills on the Westchester and Putnam county line in New York State, Harry has built an engaging and enormous program at a small, family club with just six Har-Tru courts. Stressing that staffing, budgeting, and communicating are all part of his role at Waccabuc as one of the leading directors in the country, he says he still does love his time on court. He's helped to create a family-centered program with fantastic results at Waccabuc. But, he's done that at each and every club he has ever served. Here are a few of his secrets.

The Timeline of a Season

Staffing by December 1, and certainly no later than the first week of January is crucial for a summer program. And in terms of programming and the calendar? That should be done by February 15th with notes from the staff exit interviews from the season before. "Ask your staff which events worked and which didn't," Gilbert adds. Sometimes they have a different view than you do!

Harry's winter season in Florida, where Harry was Director at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm City for many years, and the islands are certainly different from New England. Preparation is key yet again. With his time during recent winters spent at the elite and exclusive Albany Resort, on Providence Island in the Bahamas, Harry discusses how the various demographics at resorts can make his work a bit more demanding than perhaps a year-round position. There are more peaks and valleys with time on court given the holiday season and spring break period through the winter. Gear up and get ready to lead a team aimed at full member satisfaction, says Gilbert.

The Tennis Business Looking Back and Going Forward

Harry recounts his time as USPTA President and the issues he faced at the national office. He believes the issues he faced during his tenure from 2007 to 2009 are really the same issues facing the USPTA today. And, although he realizes the accomplishments of both the USPTA and PTR, he bemoans the fact that there isn't just one industry body focused on the instructors and professionals. He applauds the work that both organizations have accomplished.

The Secret to a Good Coach?

There is an equation, according to Gilbert, which allows a good instructor to become a great pro. A good instructor needs to hone in on the one or two factors that are holding back the student the most. But, part of that equation, is to how much time will that coach have with the student. The shorter the time, the sooner the instructor must find these factors and the sooner those factors should be addressed.

It's all here in this exclusive interview from our newest consultant to join our team, Harry Gilbert.

Patrick Kearns, Executive Director of 4-Star Camps, joins the BeyondTheBaselines.com Podcast in the third of our series "From The Director's Desk."

Patrick Kearns, former Director of Tennis at Farmington Country Club and The Country Club of Darien, joins us as the Executive Director of 4-Star Camps based at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Although this past summer he had to cancel camp, this summer he is also looking to possibly defer camp for another year. He explains that Covid-19 really is acting as a catalyst to what might have been happening in the industry prior to 2020.

Camps and Clubs are big business. With a family's average spend between $13,000 to $15,000 per summer for camp, it's an industry that accounts for millions of dollars over the summer months. The number of camps, due to Covid-19, will be reduced over the next two summers. From a facility standpoint the courts might not be fully available due to the virus.

Camps have to have a niche says Kearns, and he relates to us how he would have liked to stay a bit smaller in the beginning while really creating, very early, a tight niche in the camp industry. When he reopens in 2022, he believes he can run a more profitable camp in a reduced industry with a tighter focus after pivoting to a tighter niche.

The Top 3 Requisites For Being A Director Of Tennis

Patrick has always taken the role of Director of Tennis, and now Director of Racquets, to new heights - both as a Director himself and now in his new role as owner of Tennis Mavericks. His new business venture is aimed at supporting and aiding tennis professionals to grow their programs and look through the filtering wind screens and fences. In our podcast, Kearns takes us through what he sees as the three pre-requisites for an excellent Director of Tennis and Department Head.

How Can We Build On The Growth Through Covid

Patrick was one of the industry leaders at the beginning and peak of the pandemic. Following an example he saw from his wife's work in the medical industry, Patrick, with the approval of the USPTA, built the single biggest industry support group on Facebook. With information being fed to him from the the tennis, golf, fitness, medical and camp industries, Patrick supplied the country club industry with an unrivalled source of information.

In looking forward to 2021, Patrick points out that outside courts below the Mason-Dixon line might open earlier this year. Due to "cabin fever" Patrick sees a possibility of clubs opening in Virginia in late February, depending on weather. An end of March opening might be a real possibility to extend the season and bring people back on to the courts earlier than ever in New England and build upon the growth we saw in tennis in 2020. Listen in on one of the leaders of our industry.