From Tour Player to Mentor: Gordon Reid on Building a Court for Everyone

Before Gordon Reid was shaping tennis programming at Life Time clubs nationwide, he competed in college and briefly on the ATP Tour. More than three decades into coaching, he still believes there is always more to learn.

 

Now Life Time’s National Tennis Manager, Reid has found that growing the game and building a lasting career both depend on understanding people.

Reid believes tennis must overcome its history as an exclusive sport. Someone entering a private club may feel out of place, while a beginner may assume coaches prefer accomplished players. “The first interaction you have with somebody when they join the club is going to be one of the most important ones,” Reid says.

 

At Life Time, he focuses on children ages 4 to 7 learning with red balls and adult beginners. The complimentary three-week Play, Learn, Love program introduces adults to tennis with low-compression balls. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re 19 or they’re 90,” he says. “We will take everybody.”

 

Coaches must listen, choose language carefully and communicate that a player belongs before developing skill or confidence. “It doesn’t matter whether they’ve played lots of tennis or zero tennis,” Reid says. “They’re welcome on your courts and in your club.”

“The biggest shift would be moving from just teaching tennis to developing people,” Reid says. “An instructor gives information, but a coach transforms how somebody thinks, how they compete and how they grow and evolve as a person.”

 

Rather than asking only whether a player learned a technique, Reid began asking whether he had uncovered something holding the player back and helped that person believe it could be overcome.

 

Players often compete without a coach beside them, so they must learn to recognize problems, adjust and recover quickly.

Reid sees continuing education as one of the best ways coaches can future-proof their careers. “Look at ways in which you can continue to learn and evolve as a coach,” he says. “There are so many teaching tools available today compared to when I started teaching 34 years ago. The USTA Coaching platform, podcasts and YouTube videos can all help you keep learning and growing.”

 

He also urges coaches to diversify so they can teach a wide range of ages and abilities. That versatility creates opportunities and makes a coach more valuable.

When Reid hires a professional, he provides teaching hours and time to shadow four or five experienced team members. The new coach sees different teaching styles and gains people who can answer questions.

 

Mentorship becomes especially important when a teaching professional moves into management. 

 

“When you’re getting into more off-court responsibilities, you need to learn all the organizational skills required,” Reid says. Those include time management, following up on calls and emails, communicating with a team, running meetings, reading a profit-and-loss statement, understanding accounting and conducting performance reviews.

 

“It really helps to have someone with even more experience to mentor you through all this,” he says.

Reid has worked with many clients for more than 10 years. He attributes that longevity partly to understanding what players experience outside scheduled sessions.

 

A coach can show support by attending a match, asking about league results or discussing a difficult loss. “A coach is somebody who is there for you and becomes a confidant to you,” Reid says.

Coaches are usually diligent about scheduling lessons, training and competitions, but less intentional about recovery.

 

“I’ve been lucky that I’ve not dealt with fatigue or burnout, but I absolutely have dealt with injury,” Reid says. “That’s because I wasn’t great about taking regular rest.” Rest cannot be whatever time is left over. It must be planned alongside nutrition, exercise and professional development.

 

After decades in tennis, Reid’s message is that longevity comes from continuing to learn, broadening your skills, investing in other coaches and ensuring the next person who walks onto the court knows there is a place for them.