Hope this is the right place to post. I'm in my early 20s, started playing tennis this year, having 'retired' from another sport that I competed in at a national level. I understand I'm late to the sport, but am aiming to play at quite a high level. But a situation arose at my club that is hindering my progress. I would be grateful for any advice.

I learn/play at David Lloyd; did their free beginner course and attend free 'ball machine' style drill sessions, as well as paid matchplay with a coach. I also practice a lot by myself, with a wall + service practice. The problem started between me and other attendees of the paid coach-led matchplay sessions. The people who attend spend most of the session talking, much of it about other people, and the coaches do not move the session on, but engage in the small talk. The coaches are also too forgiving and give as little feedback as they can get away with. I understand the attendees' priority tennis-wise is more social than mine, but at the same time the sessions got progressively frustrating, so I stopped going as it was a waste of money.

Then one woman (one of those who talk) asked me if I no longer enjoyed these sessions, and I foolishly said they're not challenging enough anymore, which offended her (even though I did not mean to insult her). She told some of the other people, who now do not talk to me. Another time, in the free drills class, an older woman shouted at me, claiming I was skipping the queue -- the others backed me up saying she was deluded and should not have done that, but she succeeded in making me cry in front of everyone, and even though the coach had a word with her and she no longer attends that session, there's still this constant problem where other people talk about me, often audibly. My technique, initially solid, is now difficult to maintain because of the mental block I get each time I attend these sessions. This results in me getting frustrated, with everyone saying 'don't be so hard on yourself, you're definitely improving!' and other patronising things. To make things worse, the head coach at my club is rather uptight (i.e. he didn't let me have the first free lesson that all new members normally have, and says hello to all other members apart from me when he walks past) so I cannot have his help. 

I don't want to quit or change clubs (am on contract so can't). I try to ignore these people as much as I can, but it has really affected my game lately and I can't shake it. I experienced bullying at school and had some serious problems as a by-product (this was years ago, sorted now), maybe I'm more susceptible to it than others. I'm playing badly when I know I'm better than that, and it shows when I play people I don't know, etc. I'd like to progress to play matches/leagues; this seemed attainable until recently. Do I forget the matchplay, get private lessons to sort out my technique, and play at club sessions as much as possible (to hit around with lots of different people)? I understand I should probably do some mental work regularly, but, apart from that, I'm not sure how to proceed as I'm new to all this and didn't expect it to turn out this way.

-- Edited by RockBiter on Tuesday 28th of May 2019 10:39:37 PM