Most tennis holiday camps are really childcare with a racket involved.

Ours aren't. PH Tennis holiday courses are proper coaching - the same standards, the same qualified coaches and the same methodology as our term-time programme, just with more time and space to make real progress. They exist to help players genuinely improve over three focused days, not simply to fill a morning during the school holidays.

Here's how they work and why they're different.

Quick Summary

Three-day courses (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) · 3 hours per day · 9 hours of coaching · Run across roughly 10 weeks of school holidays a year · All groups led by LTA qualified coaches

Mornings (10am-1pm) cover Blue, Purple and Red groups. Afternoons (2pm-5pm) cover Orange, junior and performance groups. Every group is run by a qualified tennis coach to the exact same standard as our term-time classes. Existing direct debit members can attend for a nominal £1 - a genuine coaching opportunity to make up missed classes and progress. New and non-member families are welcome too and book the full three-day course.

Not Childcare - Proper Coaching

This is the most important thing to understand about our holiday courses.

A lot of holiday camps compete on being cheap, convenient childcare. That's not what we offer, and we've deliberately chosen not to play that game. Every PH Tennis holiday group is run by an LTA qualified coach, to identical standards as our normal term-time programme. We don't water anything down for the holidays. The coaching, the methodology, the care and the structure are exactly the same.

The whole point is progression. We want players to use those nine hours to genuinely develop - to earn their next level, win medals, move up groups, and build skills they didn't have before they walked in. It's a real coaching opportunity, not a place to park a child for a few hours.

That's also why our existing direct debit members can attend for just £1. If they've missed term-time classes, the holiday course is a genuine chance to make that time up and keep progressing - not a commercial add-on.

Why Three Focused Days Produce Real Progress

There's something about the holiday course format that makes the learning especially effective - and it comes down to timing and repetition.

In term time, children are often coached on a Saturday or after a full day at school, when they're tired. On a holiday course they're fresh. The learning happens in the morning, which gives them the rest of the day to digest and understand the teaching points. They get even more chance than usual to experiment and try new things - the same things we work on in regular lessons, but with more time to explore them.

And crucially, the three days build on top of one another. What a child learns on Tuesday gets developed on Wednesday and consolidated on Thursday. That continuity produces progression you simply can't get from a single weekly lesson - and the jump can be huge, especially for beginners.

This is exactly why we ask that players new to PH Tennis attend all three days rather than dropping in and out. The quality and the progression depend on that continuity. (Direct debit members, who attend regularly anyway, can book individual days as they need.)

Great for New Players and Experienced Players Alike

Our holiday courses work brilliantly whether your child is brand new to tennis or an experienced member of our classes.

In fact, the mix is part of what makes them work. When new players join a course alongside experienced ones, the experienced children - who already understand the games and the rules - help show the way and lead the newer players. That's not an accident. We're very big on leadership, environment and culture, and we actively build sessions where children learn from and support each other.

It connects to one of our core beliefs: everyone is responsible for everyone else's learning. When one player earns a medal, the others in the group share in that achievement - because they're the ones who've been playing with them, competing against them and helping them develop along the way. That culture runs through everything we do, and it's just as present on a holiday course as in a term-time class.

The result is an environment that's open, experimental and supportive, with no fear of failure - which is exactly the environment in which children improve fastest.

How the Days Are Structured

Holiday courses run on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the relevant holiday week, for three hours each day - nine hours of coaching in total.

Mornings, 10am-1pm

Blue, Purple and Red groups.

Afternoons, 2pm-5pm

Orange, junior and performance groups.

We run the Orange and older groups separately in the afternoon on purpose - it gives them more court space, so these players get the proper amount of time and room to play on the bigger courts their stage requires.

Class sizes are a little larger than term time, but the space grows with them - we use more courts, so the ratio of players per court stays exactly the same as our normal classes. The quality of each child's experience doesn't change.

We run holiday courses across roughly ten weeks of the school holidays each year.

Competition Alongside the Coaching

As well as focused coaching, holiday courses are an opportunity for competition - giving children the chance to test themselves, apply what they're working on, and enjoy the competitive side of the game in a supportive setting. There's genuinely something for everybody, from the complete beginner finding their feet to the experienced player chasing their next level.

An Honest Word on Convenience

We'll be straight with you: the format isn't built primarily around convenience. It's not a half day and it's not a full day of childcare, so it won't suit every family's logistics.

But for families who can get their child there during the day, it's a far better option than most holiday camps - because it's real coaching that will actually move your child's tennis forward, run entirely by qualified coaches to our full term-time standard. You're not paying for supervision. You're paying for progress.

How to Book

Existing direct debit members can book onto holiday courses for a nominal £1, and can book individual days as needed.

New families and non-members are very welcome and book the full three-day course, which ensures the continuity that makes the coaching work.

Find the next holiday course on our timetable, or get in touch to ask any questions and we'll help you find the right group for your child.

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Worth Knowing - Why Most Children Here Pay Just £1

If you join a holiday course as a new family, you might notice that many of the other children are there as part of our term-time programme - which means they're paying just £1 for the same course.

That's not a catch. Our holiday courses are included for anyone on our monthly direct debit term-time programme, as a genuine opportunity to make up missed sessions and keep progressing. It's one of the reasons families stay with us long term.

So if your child enjoys their course and you're thinking about regular coaching anyway, joining the term-time programme means your holiday courses become £1 too - alongside all 39 term-time lessons a year. Plenty of families start with a course over the summer, love it, and join the programme to make the most of the rest of the holidays and the year ahead. There's no pressure either way - but it's worth knowing how the two fit together.

Where Do Holiday Courses Run?

Across our North London venues in Winchmore Hill, Southgate and Enfield - convenient for families across Palmers Green, Edmonton, Cockfosters, Barnet, Potters Bar and the surrounding areas.