Moving to Seattle Area

J

joule

New User
Hi,

Anyone here from Seattle or nearby ?

I'm moving soon to Seattle and one of my key criteria to rent a place is tennis courts availability.

I currently have 2 trains of thought:

1. Try to be near lower woodland courts (around greenlake) or other outdoors public courts. I'm guessing if it rains 50% of the time I'd still get some great court time being near popular public courts.
2. From my research there's lots of rain so I should aim for indoors courts. Since I don't have $ to join a club, my current thinking is to try to be close to either Amy yee or Sandpoint where you can reserve without pricey memberships.

Does this sound correct ? Are these places OK?

I'm just hoping I can play 3-4 times a week, my level is ~4.5 (UTR 8.5).


Thanks for any advice you might have!!
 
LuckyR

LuckyR

Legend
joule said:
Hi,

Anyone here from Seattle or nearby ?

I'm moving soon to Seattle and one of my key criteria to rent a place is tennis courts availability.

I currently have 2 trains of thought:

1. Try to be near lower woodland courts (around greenlake) or other outdoors public courts. I'm guessing if it rains 50% of the time I'd still get some great court time being near popular public courts.
2. From my research there's lots of rain so I should aim for indoors courts. Since I don't have $ to join a club, my current thinking is to try to be close to either Amy yee or Sandpoint where you can reserve without pricey memberships.

Does this sound correct ? Are these places OK?

I'm just hoping I can play 3-4 times a week, my level is ~4.5 (UTR 8.5).


Thanks for any advice you might have!!
Click to expand...
As a Portland resident, I can confirm the indoor tennis necessity.
 
onehandbh

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
joule said:
Hi,

Anyone here from Seattle or nearby ?

I'm moving soon to Seattle and one of my key criteria to rent a place is tennis courts availability.

I currently have 2 trains of thought:

1. Try to be near lower woodland courts (around greenlake) or other outdoors public courts. I'm guessing if it rains 50% of the time I'd still get some great court time being near popular public courts.
2. From my research there's lots of rain so I should aim for indoors courts. Since I don't have $ to join a club, my current thinking is to try to be close to either Amy yee or Sandpoint where you can reserve without pricey memberships.

Does this sound correct ? Are these places OK?

I'm just hoping I can play 3-4 times a week, my level is ~4.5 (UTR 8.5).


Thanks for any advice you might have!!
Click to expand...
Many sunny and/or days in Spring/Summer/Fall, but it's essential to have a access to indoor courts during Winter.

The Greenlake courts are pretty good.
I haven't played in an indoor court in Seattle recently. The last time was a few years ago at the UW, but I don't think it is available to people not affiliated with UW.
 
Fed Kennedy

Fed Kennedy

Legend
Injured Again said:
Have not been on the forum so very late to this thread. I'm very familiar with Central Park Tennis Club so let me know if you have any questions about it.
Click to expand...
My sister lives next to the club. What are the odds of a non member coming in to play? It seems like a pretty uptight club.
 
I

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
Fed Kennedy said:
My sister lives next to the club. What are the odds of a non member coming in to play? It seems like a pretty uptight club.
Click to expand...

Central Park is a member owned club, which means that when you join, your initiation fee as an equity owner means you actually do own a part of the club. As such, policies are more geared to favor equity owner privileges and rights than a publicly owned tennis club. That means that you can't just pay a guest fee and play on the courts. You need some member of the club to bring you in.

I'd be happy to bring you in for a hit when you're in town. @travlerajm is not a member but he's played there with me at least once that I can remember. I most recently had @onehandbh at Central Park several months ago when he was here from overseas, and I think his first time there was when we played probably 15 years ago!
 
J

joule

New User
So far I'm loving playing at Seattle University courts, which at 7am appear to be empty all the time, and also at lower and upper woodlands.

I hope winter and fall have mercy on my tennis routine! My current plan is to try Amy Yee to start with since you it requires no initiation / membership .

My rating is around 5.0 (UTR 8.5-9.0) if anyone wants to play just let me know!
 
O

optic yellow

Legend
joule said:
So far I'm loving playing at Seattle University courts, which at 7am appear to be empty all the time, and also at lower and upper woodlands.

I hope winter and fall have mercy on my tennis routine! My current plan is to try Amy Yee to start with since you it requires no initiation / membership .

My rating is around 5.0 (UTR 8.5-9.0) if anyone wants to play just let me know!
Click to expand...
Do remember that it is possible to play on almost any winter day it is not raining because daytime highs are rarely low enough to make being outside at that time uncomfortable once you are warmed up.
 
lwto

lwto

Hall of Fame
Lower Woodland Tennis courts by Greenlake is a good place to get in some good pickup games. for indoor courts, Tennis Center in Sandpoint have some very nice courts you can pay and play as well as the Ami Yee tennis center on the South side of Seattle. But for just informal pick up games.. Greenlake. Playing at Greenlake also gets you to know different players who are pretty familiar with the Seattle tennis scene.. they always play in the center courts.. and are refered as the Greenlake mafia.. not sure why.. cause they are always there perhaps.
 
J

joule

New User
haha thats awesome, I'd love to go play with the usuals, it's a shame I am also very busy with work but I'll manage. Thank you very much for the info, I'll make sure to check Sandpoint during the winter.
lwto said:
Lower Woodland Tennis courts by Greenlake is a good place to get in some good pickup games. for indoor courts, Tennis Center in Sandpoint have some very nice courts you can pay and play as well as the Ami Yee tennis center on the South side of Seattle. But for just informal pick up games.. Greenlake. Playing at Greenlake also gets you to know different players who are pretty familiar with the Seattle tennis scene.. they always play in the center courts.. and are refered as the Greenlake mafia.. not sure why.. cause they are always there perhaps.
Click to expand...
 
lwto

lwto

Hall of Fame
joule said:
haha thats awesome, I'd love to go play with the usuals, it's a shame I am also very busy with work but I'll manage. Thank you very much for the info, I'll make sure to check Sandpoint during the winter.
Click to expand...
If your 4,5 you would fit right in, players range from 3 to on up with quite a few players who' have been #1 at the UW and a pro who might or might not be there, Jeff Barowiak.. not sure of the spelling, he was #1 at UCLA.. #2? Jimmy Conners..he's a character.. and yeah, he's played at all the Opens. Good luck. My name is Ken Jameson.. just mention it to some, they will know, though it's been a coupleof years, I've moved away.
 
onehandbh

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
lwto said:
Lower Woodland Tennis courts by Greenlake is a good place to get in some good pickup games. for indoor courts, Tennis Center in Sandpoint have some very nice courts you can pay and play as well as the Ami Yee tennis center on the South side of Seattle. But for just informal pick up games.. Greenlake. Playing at Greenlake also gets you to know different players who are pretty familiar with the Seattle tennis scene.. they always play in the center courts.. and are refered as the Greenlake mafia.. not sure why.. cause they are always there perhaps.
Click to expand...
I think we hit once years ago when I visited Seattle. You're a lefty, right?
 
onehandbh

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
@joule and any other PNW people,
Just arrived. Will be in Bellevue for a few weeks if anyone wants to hit. Just went to a group workout at Gorin Tennis Bellevue. Wasn't bad.

Was going to try and hit on some outdoor courts but it started snowing today so I did a driveway snow shoveling workout instead.
 
I

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
onehandbh said:
@joule and any other PNW people,
Just arrived. Will be in Bellevue for a few weeks if anyone wants to hit. Just went to a group workout at Gorin Tennis Bellevue. Wasn't bad.

Was going to try and hit on some outdoor courts but it started snowing today so I did a driveway snow shoveling workout instead.
Click to expand...

I can guarantee no outdoor hitting before you leave. With our really short days, there's no way any court will dry off before the next rainstorm hits.

We'll get a court time set here in the next few days to go hit! Will have to record some video for posterity!
 
T

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
onehandbh said:
@joule and any other PNW people,
Just arrived. Will be in Bellevue for a few weeks if anyone wants to hit. Just went to a group workout at Gorin Tennis Bellevue. Wasn't bad.

Was going to try and hit on some outdoor courts but it started snowing today so I did a driveway snow shoveling workout instead.
Click to expand...
I will be in Seattle next week, until mid Jan.
 
I

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
onehandbh said:
I want to see @travlerajm play doubles in full, flying mongoose mode.
Click to expand...

I've never played against @travlerajm in doubles so I'd love to see that too. We hit a few times a couple of decades ago, maybe back in 2004 or 2005, and then just twice that I can remember in recent years - once at my club right before the pandemic and once on some public courts not long afterwards, but only singles.
 
I

Injured Again

Hall of Fame
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