BumbleBee Tennis

Affordable, great instructors who do more than feed you balls (I’m looking at you National Tennis Center). Flexible scheduling. Love. Find some good indoor space and it will be 5 star!

I’ve taken a few classes here and have thoroughly enjoyed my experience. That being said, I did not book through the website and deal with the company through booking directly. I found this program through
. I have taken lessons at both the Astoria and Fort Greene locations and they have beautiful tennis courts. I’ve worked with a few instructors but my favorite is Daniel by far. He has a relaxed approach to his teaching instructions but observes and gives great pointers on how to improve your game. I’ve gotten tips on making my backhand a lot smoother and how I can follow through including my foot placement, the proper way to serve, keeping my racket back etc. I always feel motivated to step my game up. He’s made learning tennis so much fun that I plan to continue taking lessons here!

I am a regular at these classes and I find the instructors knowledgeable and helpful. Also, they work very hard at feeding balls. I think the fastest way to learn tennis is to hit a lot of balls. Bearing in mind that similar lessons cost an arm and a leg elsewhere this is option is a good deal. Previously we had a reasonable instructor at the courts, but he tended to be pricer and unreliable. Hopefully a more professional set up like bumblebee can be reliable and maintain their quality. Keep it up bumblebee.

I agree with Adam’s comments. This place prefers to take the money and run.
I bought a 12 sessions group Manhattan package, which had just expired with 4 remaining sessions. I called them and spoke to Mark who refused to reinstate my 4 remaining sessions saying that I had a year to use the 12 sessions. In order to reinstate the remaining sessions, i have to pay additional $ 40.
Bear in mind the winter season, raining season, hurriance season and extreme hot summers. On top of that, quality of the coaches varies and they may not be scheduled at the location or timing that you want. Taking into consideration of all that, how much time do you really have left to use the package. There is no proper coaching/​lesson structure, so if you prefer a more structured approach you should look somewhere else.
This place claims to be flexible in allowing cancellations/​bookings, but they really aren’t, as your sessions will still be forfeited if you don’t use it before expiration. I had recommended my friends to BumbleBee previously as there’s some flexibility to accomodate my busy and unpredictable work schedule, but not recommending this anymore.

Horrible sessions, the class is 45 minutes and they also start late and end early. Avoid these classes at all cost.

can’t recommend the facilities or the teaching. the gym is a run-​down dump and is freezing cold. I mean FREEZING cold — all the parents and nannies sit in full winter clothing, including hats and gloves. at least the kids are running around to warm up, but my kid’s hands are ice blocks by the end of the session.
the teachers don’t appear to have any training in effective teaching techniques for young children. i.e., speak slowly, repeat instructions, positive reinforcement. they aren’t horrible but they seem mildly annoyed at having to teach a class and they’re just trying to get through it. no genuine enthusiasm for the game or true enjoyment of the kids comes across.
and one last niggling detail, they always start late.

I bought a 3 class package for my daughter through doodledeals prior to the summer. Due to scheduling issues we weren’t able to take advantage of the promotion during the time allotted. I asked if we could get some kind of credit toward a lesson for my daughter — after all we did spend $ 60, which they received some portion of (at least half). I was given a flat out «NO».
I am an avid tennis player and thought this was a good opportunity to provide some lessons for my daughter at a convenient location. Any effort to show a commitment to customer service would have been nice. This is just bad business. It seems they just prefer to take the money and run as opposed to gaining a potential long term client.

It pains me to write this review but I have to share our experience. I signed my daughter up for the Tiny Toddler summer session to give her an introduction to tennis. Overall, she really enjoyed herself and had fun but I was left stressed out and generally aggravated.
The good:
1. Coach was very patient and good with kids. Often, daughter was the only student in class so she received a lot of 1:1 time.
2. Email reminders day before class confirming class for the next day.
3. Website had current updates on class (i.e. weather delays, cancelations, etc)
The bad:
1. Out of the 6 classes we took, only 1 started on time. For a 30 minute class, starting 10 to 15 minutes late in unacceptable. Sometimes we were promised «extra time next week» but since class regularly started late and the next class was due to start, we were regularly short changed.
2. The class is on public courts and I guess a cricket team (!!!) also had a permit for the courts at the same time. This happened more than once and sometimes we were able to somewhat share the space but it made me nervous to have cricket games going on so close to where a 3 year old was taking tennis lessons. Why NY Parks & Rec would issue a permit to a cricket team is beyond me (they regularly hit the ball out of the park).
I hope they get a little more organized; I’d love to continue my daughter’s classes but don’t need the frustration of rushing to class to be on time, only to have to wait around.