Tennis court booking software looks simple until the same court is used for both court hire and coaching sessions. A player booking an hour for a match sees a free court, while the coach books a pupil for the very same slot. If the two offers run on separate calendars, each one shows the time as available even though there is only one physical surface. You only find out on site, when two groups turn up at the same net.
This guide shows how to set up court hire and coaching as separate offers with different durations that draw on one shared pool of courts. It does not cover automatic gate access, club memberships or online payments; those need separate tools and decisions by the club. The club in the examples is fictional, so treat the durations and times as a working template to adapt.
Tennis court booking starts with counting your courts
Before you create the first offer, write down how many courts you can actually make available and what each one is suitable for. A floodlit court can run into the evening, while an unlit one closes at dusk. Indoor and outdoor courts may keep very different hours during the season. These differences shape availability far more than the name of a service on your price list.
Next, list everything that can occupy a court: hire for a match, a private lesson, a semi-private session, group coaching and a club tournament. Each of these uses the same physical resource, even though the duration, price and audience differ. The list shows how many offers will compete for one court at the same hour. Without it, it is easy to build a calendar that promises more playing hours than the club has courts.
The LTA support centre describes booking a court as choosing a location, date and time and then paying at checkout. It shows how simple a player expects choosing a slot to be; it does not explain how a club should split court hire and coaching on the same courts.
Court hire and coaching as two offers with different durations
Court hire and a coaching session answer different customer questions. A player hiring a court wants to know when they can play and for how long. A pupil asks about the coach, the level and the length of the session. If you merge both into a single item called "Court", the form cannot tell whether someone is booking only the surface or also the coach's time. Split the offers and name them so the difference is clear before anyone picks a time.
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
| Offer | Duration | What it occupies | Confirmation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court hire | 60 or 90 min | One court from the pool | Automatic when a court is free |
| Private lesson | 60 min | A court and the coach's time | Manual, after checking the coach schedule |
| Semi-private session | 90 min | A court and the coach's time | Manual, after checking the coach schedule |
The table describes a fictional club, "Linden Lane Tennis", with two outdoor courts. The durations are an example, not a recommendation. What matters is that each offer states clearly how much court time it takes and who has to be available. You can show a price on the offer for information, but payment for hire and lessons stays with the club. If you are unsure whether to charge per court or per player, read the guide on pricing per person or per booking.
Shared pool: a court used for a lesson is not free for hire
The most important configuration decision is linking both offers to the same pool of courts. If the club has two courts, the pool has two units, no matter how many offers draw on it. A lesson at 17:00 takes one court, so court hire at 17:00 can only show one more. If a second hire also starts at that time, a third request should not look possible in either offer.
The same logic applies to different durations. A 90-minute hire from 16:30 holds the court until 18:00, so a lesson starting at 17:00 has to go on the second court. The guide on avoiding double bookings covers the general rules for linking variants to one pool. Here you apply them to one specific case: two offers, one surface and overlapping times.
In Meetlead Bookings, several offers can share the same physical pool, and availability is checked again at the moment a booking is saved. Each offer has its own duration, buffers, multi-window schedule, exceptions and approval mode. The module is an App on the Growth and Scale plans. It does not control gates or court lighting, does not manage memberships and does not take online payments.
Coach hours limit lessons, not court hire
The courts may be open from 7:00 to 22:00 while the coach only teaches on certain afternoons. That is why lessons need their own availability windows, narrower than the court hire hours. Set them to match the coach's real schedule rather than the club's opening hours. The guide on service booking hours explains how to split the day into windows for each offer.
A lesson window does not, however, check the coach's private calendar or sessions at another club. If the coach works in several places or books pupils by phone, a lesson request should wait for confirmation. Manual approval gives the club time to check the schedule before the customer receives a confirmed slot. The guide on manual booking approval explains when this step makes sense and how to describe the pending state.
The court booking page of Rudgwick Tennis Club states that private play can only take place when the courts are not being used for coaching, club sessions or matches. It is one club's rule, not an industry standard and not a description of any Meetlead integration.
Court hire can stay on automatic confirmation, because its only condition is a free court in the pool. This split keeps booking fast for players and adds control where a second person is involved. The message after a lesson request should say it plainly: "Request received, the coach will confirm your time by the end of the day." Keep the word "confirmed" for the moment when the coach schedule has actually been checked.
When the court is not there: buffers, fixed sessions and exceptions
A court can be unavailable even when nobody has hired it. Changeovers, setting up equipment for a lesson, regular group sessions or a seasonal closure all take time from the same pool. If you do not enter them, the form will show times the club cannot honour. Go through the list below with whoever runs the front desk before you publish.
- A buffer after each lesson if the coach needs time to collect balls and equipment before the next pupil.
- Regular group coaching and squad training that occupy a specific court every week.
- Club tournaments and leagues entered as occupied time, not just a notice on the board.
- Surface maintenance, net replacement and the seasonal closure of outdoor courts.
- Bookings taken by phone or in person, entered into the same calendar.
Set up one-off dates, such as a Saturday tournament or a closure after resurfacing, as calendar exceptions rather than changes to the regular schedule. The guide on booking calendar exceptions shows how to prepare such dates and review existing bookings. Enter phone bookings following the guide on phone bookings in your calendar. A court marked as taken in the front-desk diary but free in the form is a simple recipe for a clash.
Test before publishing: four checks on two courts
A single trial booking proves very little, because it does not test competition between offers. Plan a short test session on dates customers are not booking yet. Write down the expected result before each check, so the verdict does not depend on a hunch.
- Fill both courts with different offers.Book court hire and a lesson for the same time. A third attempt at that time should not be possible in either offer.
- Check overlapping durations.With one court already taken, a 90-minute hire from 16:30 and a lesson from 17:00 cannot both land on the second. One of these attempts has to be refused.
- Request a lesson outside the coach schedule.A time outside the lesson window should not appear. A request inside the window should go to approval, not straight to confirmation.
- Add an exception and cancel a booking.Enter a closed day in both offers and check that it disappears from both calendars. After a hire is cancelled, the court should return to the pool.
After testing, ask someone outside the team to book a match and a lesson from their phone. If they choose a lesson when they only want to play, fix the offer names and descriptions. If they are surprised that there are no evening lesson times, add to the description when the coach teaches. You can set the interval between suggested start times using the guide on booking time slot intervals.
Questions about court booking
Can members and guests follow different booking rules? You can create separate offers with different descriptions and schedules that use the same court pool. Meetlead does not verify memberships or passes, though, so eligibility for the member rate is checked by the front desk. If the only difference is the price, a clear note in the offer description is enough.
Will the system open the gate or switch on the court lights? No. A booking records the time and the customer details, but it does not control access to the venue or any equipment. Agree how players get in according to the club's rules and describe it in the offer if it does not change. Payment for a court or a lesson is settled outside the module, and the price on the offer is for information only.
