'PERCEPTION'

I have always risked getting offside with fellow tennis coaches due to my stance on the cost of learning this game. For example i have never charged more than $40 for a one hour lesson despite having 31 years of playing and coaching experience behind me , i don't charge rates that i can't justify. If i know a kid has been getting charged $80 elsewhere i will not all of a sudden put my price up to $50 , i will leave it at $40. If i know a kid's parents are not flushed with cash but i believe the kid has ability and a good attitude to match i will do a lesson for as little as $25. Why make it hard for a kid to learn and what right do i have as a coach to charge an hourly rate that takes most of the public three hours to earn? 
Just because the game of tennis can potentially earn someone a million dollars in a year , or more, why should it be taken out of the reach of every day people who earn from say $18 - $30 per hour in the 'Real World'? I refer to the tennis coaching industry as 'sheep following sheep' , there is no other reason as to why an hourly rate is not more affordable. As coaches are we looking to get rich quick or are we trying to keep people playing the game and improving at a steady rate so that the game is in safe hands for the future? 
So if a tennis coach with say 5 years experience is charging as much as a coach of 25 years then unless he or she is churning out State champions on a regular basis then how can this be justified? 
On the other side of the coin if a tennis coach of 25 years is not regularly fixing student's issues but rather just saying 'good shot , you are doing well, see you same time next week' then i don't believe he has the right to charge exotic prices either just to appease the industry. 
What if a coach has had say 20 years experience , has passed his Level 2 or even Level 3 Course , has ceased trying to teach State Champions and is now simply teaching at a club to help club players improve their games? Well i look at it like this ; If in this example the coach charges say a flat rate of $50 per hour then that is a price that is looked at as 'reasonable', especially in the City Tennis Clubs , it's a price that would see a regular flow of customers. The other thing you have to be mind full of when teaching this game is that you don't make it an 'exclusive' sport anymore than it already is , high prices scare people away. 
A $50 hourly rate will also not put an unrealistic burden on a tennis coach that $80 or $100 an hour will and let's face it , the higher the price the higher the expectation of the consumer.
Put it this way if i wanted to learn to hit a golf ball the right way at $70 per hour i would want 'immediate improvement', not something that was going to take three years to fix, i would be broke in no time.
A Lawyer charges $275 per hour but does he fix the problem? He usually makes matters worse so he can charge the next 10 hours for that price. A Mechanic charges around $100 per hour , usually fixes the problem but not always. What will the public look for in most instances ? The highest price as this must mean surely that 'THEY ARE THE BEST'.
Just because a student at tennis pays $80 it doesn't mean the guy who pays $40 for an hour of tuition is missing out on anything, but it's what's wrong with the perception of the game of tennis and it's why it is referred to as a 'Rich Person's Sport'. 
I am not talking about the 'babysitting' classes that offer 45 minutes of mayhem for $10 , i am referring to the only real way to get better at tennis and that's one on one lessons . 
Perception of tennis has changed dramatically over the years and the cost of learning is getting out of the reach of most families, a real shame. Tennis should not be about who has the most money to pay for the 'privilege' of learning it  but it should be about who appreciates it and who is willing to learn, that's where a tennis coach fits in .
Let's make it affordable, not exclusive.