I need to be real with you for a minute.
If you’ve been following Essential Tennis for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed things have slowed down lately. Way down. Fewer videos, less activity on social media, longer gaps between uploads.
I owe you an explanation for that. You’ve supported this channel, many of you for years, and you deserve to know what’s been going on behind the scenes and what you can expect moving forward.
This isn’t going to be a typical tennis instruction piece—there’s no forehand tips or serve mechanics here. But if you’ve been wondering what’s happening with Essential Tennis, stick with me. I want to pull back the curtain and let you in on the journey.
How we got here…
Essential Tennis launched on YouTube in March 2009. That means we’re coming up on 15 years of uploading videos to this channel, which in internet terms is absolutely crazy. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built in that time, but like anything worth doing, it’s had massive ups and some pretty challenging downs.
For the first six years, it was just me. I was the coach on camera, the guy behind the camera, the editor, the customer service rep—I wore every single hat. It took me three years just to figure out how to turn this into an actual business, then another three years doing it all solo.
Nine years ago, I hired my first full-time editor. Shout out to James, who’s still with me today and has been an absolute lifesaver. Why did I bring him on? Because I wanted to do MORE. I wanted to make better videos, reach more people, and help more tennis players fall deeper in love with this game. My thinking was simple: if we build a team around this mission, we can make an even bigger impact.
And for a while, that’s exactly what happened.
Between 2014 and 2019, we went through this incredible period of growth. We added more coaches, more editors, more camera operators, customer service people, social media experts—all kinds of talented people who believed in what we were doing. By 2019, we peaked with four full-time coaches, three or four editors constantly cranking out content, and even our own office space and private tennis court.
It felt like a startup. Everyone showed up to the office every day, we collaborated on ideas, we had the freedom to create whatever we wanted. Kevin, Megan, Kirby, Ira—we had this fantastic team, and those years were some of the best of my life.
We published over 2,300 free videos during that time. Thousands and thousands of hours of content, all made possible because people like you signed up for our courses. That’s been the business model from the beginning: create valuable courses that tennis players invest in, and use that revenue to fund free content on YouTube and across social media.
Then things changed…
Starting in 2020, course sales began to decline. And they’ve continued declining ever since.
I’m not upset about this—I need to be clear about that. What happened is completely natural. More coaches entered the space. More people started creating instructional content. More courses became available. Competition increased, and the same passionate tennis players who used to buy every course that came out started reaching a saturation point.
Think about it from their perspective: “I already own three forehand courses and I haven’t even watched the second one I bought two years ago. Why would I buy another one?”
It’s just supply and demand playing out. Everyone has the same opportunity on the internet. If you create high-quality coaching and content, you deserve to grow an audience and build a business around it. That’s how it should work.
But here’s the reality: there are only so many people who are passionate enough about tennis to invest in courses. As more and more coaches compete for those same students, the pie gets sliced thinner and thinner.
The last 18 months have been brutal…
I’m going to be totally honest with you—the last year and a half has been incredibly stressful for me.
We had built this big team with significant payroll, office space, court rentals, equipment—all kinds of overhead. As revenue declined, we’ve been chasing our tail trying to figure out how to keep the lights on and not go broke.
Over the last few years, we’ve slowly unwound everything. The office is gone. The private court is gone. The team has shrunk. I’ve tried everything to reverse the trend—we experimented with daily uploads, we tried super intensive productions every other week, we tested all kinds of different formats and schedules. But the landscape has just fundamentally changed.
And honestly, only in the last month or two have I finally been able to exhale. We’ve trimmed expenses enough that we’re basically breaking even again for the first time in a long time.
Right now, at this very moment, Essential Tennis is back to where it was nine years ago: just me and James.
If you’re watching an old video with other coaches, that’s from a different era. As of January 2024, I’m the only coach, and James is the only full-time editor still with me.
So now what?
Here’s what I want you to know: I’m not quitting. Not even close.
Despite all the stress, despite the frustration, despite everything we’ve been through—I still absolutely love doing this. I love tennis. I love coaching. I love working with passionate players who want to get better. And I still love making videos.
My momentum has stalled, I’ll admit that. But I’m ready to find square one again and start building momentum back up. We’re going to have to reinvent a little bit, experiment with new formats and schedules, and figure out what works in this new landscape.
I don’t have all the answers yet, and that’s actually part of what makes this exciting. Over the next 12 months, you’re going to see us try new things. Some will work, some won’t. But I’m looking forward to the journey.
Look, I know this is a behind-the-scenes business update and not a tennis lesson. But there’s something here worth taking with you.
Building anything worthwhile—whether it’s a business, a tennis game, or anything else you care about—comes with ups and downs. There will be periods of incredible growth where everything feels effortless, and there will be stretches where you’re grinding just to stay afloat.
The question isn’t whether those challenging periods will come. They will. The question is: do you still love it enough to push through?
For me, the answer is absolutely yes. Even with all the stress of the last 18 months, I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.
This is what I’m meant to do.
And here’s the other piece that matters: none of this would be possible without YOU.
Every single person who’s clicked on a video, left a comment, sent a thank-you message, or signed up for a course has sent energy back my way. Without that two-way exchange, I would have burned out years ago. If I was just sending videos into a vacuum with no engagement and no reciprocation, there’s no way I’d still be here.
Some of you have been with me for over a decade now. You’ve supported me, encouraged me, and enabled James to support his family of seven (five kids!) and me to support my family of four. My wife stays home full-time with our two kids, and James’s wife does the same with their five. Every course purchase, every view, every bit of engagement has helped make that possible.
I never forget that. I never lose sight of how blessed I am to wake up every morning and spend my time doing something I love. Being able to make a living creating tennis content is a crazy new thing that’s never existed in human history until just recently, and I feel extremely grateful every single day.
So if you’re still reading this, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of this journey.
I’m excited to see what happens next. I don’t know exactly what it’ll look like yet, and honestly, that’s part of the fun.
You’ll see some new instructional content coming soon in a new format, and we’ll figure it out together as we go.
And as always, keep up the great work with your game.
Your Coach,
-Ian
