Question about personal training. will give some measly reps

[blakeben]

My career goals: to give tennis players lessons and strength train people.

I have a HUGE passion for helping other get better, whether it is physically or emotionally, and I happen to have a huge passion for sports and fitness. I know I do not really need a certificate for tennis( I gave lessons this summer and charged 35$ an hour without having any experience). Buuuuutttttt I know I am going to need to be certified to get a legitimate personal trainer job. I am currently at Texas Tech studying exercise science. My plan right now is to get my bachelors and just get certified in a few different areas(I want to train athletes, but would not mind just training normal, every day ppl). So my first question is what certificates should I get if I want to train athletes and normal people(at public workout facility). Secondly do I NEED to even get my bachelors?? I know I don't have to get my bachelors to train, but from yalls experiences, do non degree trainers even get jobs?? Trust me I am not trying to take the easy way out. This passion has been in my heart since i knew what exercising was. It brightens my day seeing ppl improve. And personal trainers make the world a better place, and change ppls lives. **** TRAINERS SAVE LIVES IN SOME CASES!!!!!! I am paying for school through loans so if I do not need to it I drop out and start shadowing a trainer while working on getting certified....opinions please

After googling and googling i have gotten mixed information, so i figured actual personal trainers could help me out. Again i will rep

[blakeben]

My career goals: to give tennis players lessons and strength train people.

I have a HUGE passion for helping other get better, whether it is physically or emotionally, and I happen to have a huge passion for sports and fitness. I know I do not really need a certificate for tennis( I gave lessons this summer and charged 35$ an hour without having any experience). Buuuuutttttt I know I am going to need to be certified to get a legitimate personal trainer job. I am currently at Texas Tech studying exercise science. My plan right now is to get my bachelors and just get certified in a few different areas(I want to train athletes, but would not mind just training normal, every day ppl). So my first question is what certificates should I get if I want to train athletes and normal people(at public workout facility). Secondly do I NEED to even get my bachelors?? I know I don't have to get my bachelors to train, but from yalls experiences, do non degree trainers even get jobs?? Trust me I am not trying to take the easy way out. This passion has been in my heart since i knew what exercising was. It brightens my day seeing ppl improve. And personal trainers make the world a better place, and change ppls lives. **** TRAINERS SAVE LIVES IN SOME CASES!!!!!! I am paying for school through loans so if I do not need to it I drop out and start shadowing a trainer while working on getting certified....opinions please

After googling and googling i have gotten mixed information, so i figured actual personal trainers could help me out. Again i will rep

Dam no one wants to help somebody become a successful trainer? weak

[lexinak]

My career goals: to give tennis players lessons and strength train people.

I have a HUGE passion for helping other get better, whether it is physically or emotionally, and I happen to have a huge passion for sports and fitness. I know I do not really need a certificate for tennis( I gave lessons this summer and charged 35$ an hour without having any experience). Buuuuutttttt I know I am going to need to be certified to get a legitimate personal trainer job. I am currently at Texas Tech studying exercise science. My plan right now is to get my bachelors and just get certified in a few different areas(I want to train athletes, but would not mind just training normal, every day ppl). So my first question is what certificates should I get if I want to train athletes and normal people(at public workout facility). Secondly do I NEED to even get my bachelors?? I know I don't have to get my bachelors to train, but from yalls experiences, do non degree trainers even get jobs?? Trust me I am not trying to take the easy way out. This passion has been in my heart since i knew what exercising was. It brightens my day seeing ppl improve. And personal trainers make the world a better place, and change ppls lives. **** TRAINERS SAVE LIVES IN SOME CASES!!!!!! I am paying for school through loans so if I do not need to it I drop out and start shadowing a trainer while working on getting certified....opinions please

After googling and googling i have gotten mixed information, so i figured actual personal trainers could help me out. Again i will rep

First - your passion is awesome. Keep it up.

Second - no, you don't need a college degree to train, and if you're going to train independently in a niche market (tennis players), it's completely unnecessary. If you plan on becoming a competitive tennis coach at a really high level, then perhaps the degree might be of value.

Third - get a basic personal training certification and stop there. Additional ***** don't help you unless they actually educate you on a subject you previously didn't know - Pilates, for example, or other specialty-type programs. Focus your time and money on your clients and environment, not certifications.

Fourth - in a nutshell, what you should do is get a NASM/ACE/etc personal training certification, CPR/AED and insurance. Then you're going to take the client base you already have and start looking/asking for referrals. You can probably charge more than $35 an hour in the right social circles; I've charged rich, bored housewives $90 an hour for yoga and I don't doubt that you'll find plenty of tennis players living that kind of lifestyle. Don't be shy.

[tylerpritchard_7]

Great attitude. If you can transfer that to clients I'm sure they'll carry it onwards to being successful.

I suggest getting your degree and then getting PT certified. Perhaps from ISSA.

As for tennis, do you have any big tournament wins or credentials? If I were looking for tennis lessons, I'd look for someone who has won some assortment of tournaments or TRAINED someone who has won tournaments.
Maybe if you could get in touch with some teens who are in tennis leagues and train them for free, get them to win some leagues and then use them as testimonials.

Good luck my friend.

[Quistfitness]

Well you dont "need" a bachelors degree, i got my associates and i am doing well. The biggest thing is developing a client base, once that is done, then you can really focus on your clients and let them do the marketing for you.

Personal training will actualy strengthen your tennis lessions, as you will know the proper movements and exercises to prescribe to better the player.

The 2nd hardest thing is to keep that passion over the next 5 years. Il be honest with you, PT can burn you out pretty quick especialy if you do it at all times of the day. Keep up that motivation and you will do fine; just have patience and keep passionate.

[ericmackcarter]

Dam no one wants to help somebody become a successful trainer? weak

I see this too often and I'm not in the mood to let it slide. If you are asking for advise or help from other people and call them "weak" just because they don't answer on YOUR time schedule (which was less than an hour I might add), you're not going to make it very far in life.

To answer your questions, if you want to train athletes I recommend getting a degree and a CSCS. I'm sure you know people take their athletes very seriously, whether it is club managers or parents of their young athletes, and you are more likely to succeed and earn their trust if you can show great credentials. Yes, non-degree trainers get jobs, but this might not always remain true. I'd stay in school, work on becoming certified (ACSM, NASM, or NSCA), start training while studying, and become a very good trainer.

Good luck.