I expect that this won't change your mind, but here goes...
The local sport club rule explicitly permits D1 coaches to give instruction within that framework. It does not require a minimum of 4 students, or any other number.
quote:the only thing I found about individual lessons was the exception granted to womens golf and equestrian (13.11.3.7) The actual rule must be in the baseball book which I don't have at the moment.
The "actual rule" is not a rule against private lessons, rather it is the more general rule against tryouts.
Put another way, there is no D1 rule prohibiting private lessons. However, the tryout rule is quite general, and in order to not violate it, a coach needs to find an applicable exception. Private lessons for women's golf and equestrian is one, and local sports club is another. Yet another is camps and clinics.
A coach can teach within any of those frameworks. For golf, the number of students is one; for local sports clubs the minimum number is undefined, and for camps and clinics by implication it needs to be at least a handful. But even in a clinic, a coach can work one-on-one in serial fashion.
I think it is also illuminating to read the rationale that was provided for making the exception to the tryout rule for women's golf: "......particularly in women's golf, junior players often do not continue to play the sport after they reach prospect age due to the fact that local sports clubs do not exist in sufficient number to allow golf coaches to continue to teach the junior players within the local sports club system. In addition, coaches who do not have the opportunity to teach through a sports club are limited in the amount of income that they can earn....."