I’ve spent most of my career inside racket clubs, and one thing has become painfully clear: courts don’t build communities—programs do.
As pickleball and padel explode (500% and 100% player growth since 2020), many clubs are rushing to add courts and hoping demand will take care of the rest. It won’t. The real differentiator—just as it has been in tennis for decades—is structured coaching programs .
Tennis taught us this lesson early. Strong coaching pathways drive credibility, retention, and lifetime value. Facilities with active coaching programs consistently outperform “rent-a-court” models because players stay longer, improve faster, and spend more. That logic transfers directly to padel and pickleball—but with some important twists.
Padel and pickleball attract players faster due to lower skill barriers and social appeal. That means coaching isn’t just about elite performance; it’s about onboarding, progression, and social stickiness. Clubs that run beginner-to-intermediate pathways see higher utilization and better yields. Converting one tennis court into padel can increase daily revenue 5–7x, but without coaching, utilization plateaus quickly.
Where clubs go wrong:
• Hiring coaches without structured programs or KPIs
• Treating coaching as a cost center, not a revenue engine
• Ignoring juniors and pathways in favor of short-term adult demand
• Copy-pasting tennis models without adapting to social formats
How to get it right:
• Clear progression ladders (starter → social → competitive)
• Coaches embedded in community-building, not just lessons
• Group formats that scale margins and lower entry anxiety
• Visible pathways that signal professionalism and credibility
The best padel and pickleball clubs I have seen, feel familiar to anyone from a strong tennis background: busy coaches, full calendars, juniors on court, adults improving, and a culture that signals “this is a serious place to have fun.” (great catchphrase, BTW 😃 )
Courts may attract players. Coaching programs keep them—and they’re what ultimately protect the bottom line.
(Originally published on LinkedIn)
