Most basketball trainers start the same way: one-on-one sessions at $60-100 per hour.
It feels right. Personal attention. Focused development. Premium pricing.
But here’s what Tyler Leclerc learned after years of grinding: Individual-only training is a trap that caps your income and limits player development.
Tyler now runs two Massachusetts facilities with a group-first model that generates 3x more revenue per hour while producing better results for athletes.
“Groups are obviously a lot more beneficial for players and more beneficial for the business owner,” Tyler explains. “I think a lot more trainers should be doing that.”
Here’s the complete economic breakdown and training philosophy that changed his business.
The Math That Changes Everything
Let’s start with the numbers trainers avoid:
Individual Training Model
- Rate: $100/hour
- Athletes trained: 1
- Revenue per hour: $100
- Weekly capacity (30 hours): $3,000
- Monthly revenue: ~$12,000
Ceiling: Your time. You’re trading hours for dollars with zero leverage.
Group Training Model
- Rate: $40/athlete
- Athletes per group: 8
- Revenue per hour: $320
- Weekly capacity (30 hours): $9,600
- Monthly revenue: ~$38,400
Growth potential: Add more athletes per group, run concurrent sessions, hire assistant coaches.
“If you stretch that across 10, 20, 30, 40 hours a week, you’re making way more money,” Tyler says. “You’re going to spend less time training and you’re going to make more money.”
The Rental Gym Economics
For trainers renting court space, the difference is even more dramatic:
Individual Session:
- Revenue: $100
- Court rental: -$50
- Net profit: $50 (50% margin)
Group Session (8 athletes):
- Revenue: $320
- Court rental: -$50
- Net profit: $270 (84% margin)
“When you have to pay $50 an hour to rent the gym, it doesn’t really make sense to charge $100 an hour for an individual because you’re only making 50 bucks,” Tyler explains.
Two kids in a group cover your court rental. Everyone after that is pure profit.
Why Groups Actually Develop Better Players
This isn’t just about economics. Tyler’s conviction comes from training philosophy:
Competition Creates Intensity
“It’s more beneficial for the actual player,” Tyler emphasizes. “Groups create competition, game-like intensity, and peer learning that individual sessions can’t replicate.”
In individual sessions:
- Athlete competes against themselves or coach’s expectations
- No peer pressure to push harder
- Limited competitive context
- Easier to coast or take plays off
In group sessions:
- Athletes naturally compete with each other
- Social accountability (nobody wants to be the worst)
- Game-like scenarios emerge organically
- Higher intensity sustained throughout
Transfer to Game Performance
The ecological dynamics approach Tyler follows emphasizes constraint-led learning - creating training environments that mirror game demands.
Groups provide:
