Best places in US to play tennis 4.0

sureshs said:
LOL that is where the famous UCLA courts and Jack Kramer club are and where Sampras lives, and where the D1 USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins play.
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Well, I would play there if my lungs allowed. I’ve driven there before, some areas are clean, some areas are as smoggy as a volcano. But that sounds awesome all those places are there.
 
Moveforwardalways said:
Someone might want to stay away from Los Angeles, but tennis weather is not why.
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Exactly my point, the city is super dirty, almost as bad as San Francisco. I wouldn’t move to San Francisco even if I was offered a billion dollars. Los Angeles, I would if I could live outside the big city and maybe near Malibu.
 
The mental image many people have of the Los Angeles skyline is one obscured by smog, with thick air pollution hanging over its downtown buildings. ... EPA data shows that in March of this year, the Los Angeles area experienced the longest stretch of "good" air quality since at least 1995.Apr 7, 2020
 
Utah has a surprisingly huge number of League offerings. There are USTA Leagues running during all 12 months of the year (excepting 2020 of course), which I think is rare, if not unique? I found it easy to build a community of partners / instructors from scratch without joining a club, just by playing in leagues and clinics at various Salt Lake tennis facilities that do not require membership. If you do want to join a fancy club there are a couple around, but they seem to be less popular here compared to other regions.
 
OK, probably not your first thought but Chicago has a HUGE tennis scene. I've been playing here for only a couple years and have played with at least 50 players of 4.0+ level without necessarily trying hard to network. And there are many many more.

Pros:
- Tons of public courts. Every neighborhood has courts. Within a 5-mile radius from downtown Chicago there are probably 200 public courts available. Within a 20-minute drive from downtown Chicago you get to the burbs and in most of them you can find brand new free public courts. :D :D :D
- Multiple universities with strong tennis programs, super solid players and good courts.
- You can't play outside typically for about 3-4 months of the year BUT indoor courts are everywhere and they are considerably cheaper to many other big cities/areas.
- Lots of options in terms of USTA leagues, club leagues and tournaments. Many are taking place on public courts as well with very low cost.
- You'll be surprised by how many cool tennis players are around. I've made some good friends too during this time and have enjoyed 98% of my time on the court and that goes a long way.

Having grown up in Greece where courts are very scarce, Chicago is tennis heaven for me. (y)(y):X3:
 
Emilio said:
Yep. I’m only improving and I want to get to a 5.0 before I start declining.


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Live your dream Emilio!

My wife and I moved to Greenville, SC (from the northeast) five years ago, in part because of the active tennis culture, as well as the easy access to mountains (hiking, cycling, etc) and vibrant (small) city life. We're very happy here.
 
Emilio said:
Howdy. I was thinking of possible places to move that would be best in terms of getting quality tennis leagues, partners, instructors, and possibly be a member of a tennis club or country club with good tennis. Year round tennis is also important whether it’s outdoors or indoors that makes it work. I live in South Florida and I can be wrong here but in the Broward and Miami areas around me within 45 min there are very little clubs and good courts and availability are few and far between. I’d like your opinions. I’m 40 and a 4.0 rating and I usually play any age. I look forward to your suggestions.


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I would say a lot depends on what surface you like. Outside of FL, GA & SC, you are not going to find the amount of clay that you find in those states. It will almost all be hardcourts... CA, TX, etc. If you don’t mind 100% Hard - you have a lot of options and I agree, a college town may be the best bet.
 
Emilio said:
So I’ve heard but I haven’t heard the quality of clubs and courts.


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There are high quality clubs/courts all over the city. Most of the neighborhoods have multiple courts and most of them are very nice. For example, my neighborhood has 12 courts with multiple teaching pros. This is more common out in the suburbs but there are many different tennis clubs in the city with similar setups. There is not shortage of high level tennis in Atlanta.
 
sureshs said:
The smog problem was resolved a while ago with strong environmental laws
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I don't think the smog is ever gone unless you play near the coast. The news can say whatever they want. I've played in it and those brown hazy summer 90+ degree days are unbearable to play in many inland communities; Pasadena, the Valley, Cerritos or OC..
 
a10best said:
I don't think the smog is ever gone unless you play near the coast. The news can say whatever they want. I've played in it and those brown hazy summer 90+ degree days are unbearable to play in many inland communities; Pasadena, the Valley, Cerritos or OC..
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Clearly one instance is not representative of playing year round, but I was actually just in SoCal this week and played in the San Gabriel Valley (Monrovia) and even my Pacific Northwest air babied lungs and cardiovascular had no issue. No, it wasn't 90+ and it is April, not August, but it is much better than it used to be.

I lived in Pasadena for 18 years and at the start of my time there, yeah, it was bad. By the end it was more than manageable and I was running 30+ miles per week without issue year round.
 
schmke said:
Clearly one instance is not representative of playing year round, but I was actually just in SoCal this week and played in the San Gabriel Valley (Monrovia) and even my Pacific Northwest air babied lungs and cardiovascular had no issue. No, it wasn't 90+ and it is April, not August, but it is much better than it used to be.

I lived in Pasadena for 18 years and at the start of my time there, yeah, it was bad. By the end it was more than manageable and I was running 30+ miles per week without issue year round.
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Maybe it has decreased which would be great due to cleaner gas laws or you simply got used to it. I never had issues with cardio ssues in SoCal smog or heat either. I just noticed on windy days or after a good rain drenching, you can see the Hollywood sign and mountains easily from DTLA or LAX. Fwiw, it doesnt seem like you lose 5 or 10 years of life or are choking. I only play 5 to 10 miles from the coast. I can smell the difference whenever I return.
 
Don't think you can go wrong choosing a state in USTA southern section, really well organized. I spent a few years in Arkansas and around Little Rock has a really good tennis scene. Plus close to west Tennessee, Memphis.
 
Mmazzoni said:
Don't think you can go wrong choosing a state in USTA southern section, really well organized. I spent a few years in Arkansas and around Little Rock has a really good tennis scene. Plus close to west Tennessee, Memphis.
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No offfense, but I don't want people getting the wrong impression, southern's (except Atlanta) going to leave you wanting much more. I went from Texas to southern area. There are enough opportunities for team USTA, but strangely you will recognize the same players over and over after a couple seasons, some divisions in Memphis have only 2 teams total or 3 and they just play each other every weekend all season! I bet Atlanta is like Dallas where you could play 4.5 or 4.0 for years and see many many new and unique opponents, but many Non-ATL-Southern tournaments are scrambling to find singles players to fill the brackets, 4.0-4.5 will be lucky to have 4-6 singles players and similar doubles and the tournaments are about 3-4 per year in Little Rock, maybe 8 or so in TN but mostly doubles. I've been signed up for 3 tournaments so far that folded this year alone in this Southern area due to lack of players signing up. There are hardly any UTR events, not that it matters, just as a snapshot of how dry the landscape is for tourneys.
Compare it to Atlanta or Dallas, where Dallas has over 300 different tennis court facilities (including high school), https://www.globaltennisnetwork.com/tennis-courts/courts/city/224-dallas-texas, that says 450 locations, but I'm saying 300 just to cut down on duplicates. Without reducing for duplicates Memphis has 48 tennis facilities and Little Rock only 50. Plus in Dallas country clubs at all price levels, and most weekends will have 2-4 adult tournament options, every single weekend when it isn't winter. That's compared to 3-4 per year in southern. Dallas is hot as hell though and crazy crowded, I wouldn't go there just for tennis

So, maybe Atlanta, 650 facilities, which is Southern would be a great place too.

Lol, this thread is 2 years old, where did the OP decide to move to?
 
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FuzzyYellowBalls said:
No offfense, but I don't want people getting the wrong impression, southern's (except Atlanta) going to leave you wanting much more. I went from Texas to southern area. There are enough opportunities for team USTA, but strangely you will recognize the same players over and over after a couple seasons, some divisions in Memphis have only 2 teams total or 3 and they just play each other every weekend all season! I bet Atlanta is like Dallas where you could play 4.5 or 4.0 for years and see many many new and unique opponents, but many Non-ATL-Southern tournaments are scrambling to find singles players to fill the brackets, 4.0-4.5 will be lucky to have 4-6 singles players and similar doubles and the tournaments are about 3-4 per year in Little Rock, maybe 8 or so in TN but mostly doubles. I've been signed up for 3 tournaments so far that folded this year alone in this Southern area due to lack of players signing up. There are hardly any UTR events, not that it matters, just as a snapshot of how dry the landscape is for tourneys.
Compare it to Atlanta or Dallas, where Dallas has over 300 different tennis court facilities (including high school), https://www.globaltennisnetwork.com/tennis-courts/courts/city/224-dallas-texas, that says 450 locations, but I'm saying 300 just to cut down on duplicates. Without reducing for duplicates Memphis has 48 tennis facilities and Little Rock only 50. Plus in Dallas country clubs at all price levels, and most weekends will have 2-4 adult tournament options, every single weekend when it isn't winter. That's compared to 3-4 per year in southern. Dallas is hot as hell though and crazy crowded, I wouldn't go there just for tennis

So, maybe Atlanta, 650 facilities, which is Southern would be a great place too.

Lol, this thread is 2 years old, where did the OP decide to move to?
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LOL dang should have checked the original post. It has been a few years since i moved from the area sad to hear its really dropped off. As a rec player I found it adequate, there was a good stretch of about 8 tournaments from late spring to early fall and the brackets would usually be about full. It isn't a huge area to draw from and eventually it was the same few players over and over. I would trade for Southern in a heartbeat over the Mid-Atlantic its crickets in eastern Virginia.
 
Mmazzoni said:
LOL dang should have checked the original post. It has been a few years since i moved from the area sad to hear its really dropped off. As a rec player I found it adequate, there was a good stretch of about 8 tournaments from late spring to early fall and the brackets would usually be about full. It isn't a huge area to draw from and eventually it was the same few players over and over. I would trade for Southern in a heartbeat over the Mid-Atlantic its crickets in eastern Virginia.
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Yeah, it's all relative for sure, but if you con move anywhere, southern besides Atlanta is a tough one. It is funny l, wonder where the guy ended up?
 
Not a single mention of NY (metro area). Is it really that bad here? Is it the weather, or the super expensive courts (that you have to use in the winter)?
 
robyrolfo said:
Not a single mention of NY (metro area). Is it really that bad here? Is it the weather, or the super expensive courts (that you have to use in the winter)?
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Weather, indoor court cost. In southern I've got free access to indoor courts and a ball machine any hour of the day I want, clinics indoor or out are $10 an hour, court fees are $4 outdoor and $5 an hour indoor. Dallas bumps it up to $10 for indoor time, probably about $20 for 1.5 hours of drills etc., so cost is really the issue with NY. I think NY is closer to $100 an hour and scheduling court time is difficult. However, if you love NY I'm sure it has enough tennis if you have the $$$.
 
TennisOTM said:
Utah has a surprisingly huge number of League offerings. There are USTA Leagues running during all 12 months of the year (excepting 2020 of course), which I think is rare, if not unique? I found it easy to build a community of partners / instructors from scratch without joining a club, just by playing in leagues and clinics at various Salt Lake tennis facilities that do not require membership. If you do want to join a fancy club there are a couple around, but they seem to be less popular here compared to other regions.
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Moon Shooter said:
Since this thread started it sounds like Utah's 4.0 community has become the talk of the forums.
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FuzzyYellowBalls said:
Lol, not at all, Utah has 1 4.0 team and good luck playing on that one. Besides, Utah is beautiful, but if you aren't Morman, it can be a strange place to be.
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Ha, I actually mentioned Utah on this thread two years ago (see above). There are 14 teams and 208 players in the 18+ 4.0 men's league this year. The 13 teams aside from THAT one still manage to have a good time.
 
TennisOTM said:
Ha, I actually mentioned Utah on this thread two years ago (see above). There are 14 teams and 208 players in the 18+ 4.0 men's league this year. The 13 teams aside from THAT one still manage to have a good time.
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Not bad, not enough to make the nationwide radar, but not bad, unless that is state wide and not just Salt Lake city.
 
FuzzyYellowBalls said:
Not bad, not enough to make the nationwide radar, but not bad, unless that is state wide and not just Salt Lake city.
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The Salt Lake City area is the only area that regularly has leagues in the state. It basically covers the Wasatch Front, which has 80% of the state's population in a relatively small area. USTA lists two other areas (Northern Utah and St. George), but those rarely have any leagues at all.

Not sure how we'd rank nationally for the number of league players per-capita. Maybe not so strong by that measure. But I suspect we'd rank near the top for the number of leagues play opportunities offered throughout the year. In how many other places can you play league matches during every month of the calendar year?
 
FuzzyYellowBalls said:
Weather, indoor court cost. In southern I've got free access to indoor courts and a ball machine any hour of the day I want, clinics indoor or out are $10 an hour, court fees are $4 outdoor and $5 an hour indoor. Dallas bumps it up to $10 for indoor time, probably about $20 for 1.5 hours of drills etc., so cost is really the issue with NY. I think NY is closer to $100 an hour and scheduling court time is difficult. However, if you love NY I'm sure it has enough tennis if you have the $$$.
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Oh wow, those numbers are just... Wow! Playing during the winter months here (be it court fees, drills/lessons...) will easily add up to a monthly expenditure equivalent to a decent car payment. Plus, as you said, those high prices still don't necessarily guarantee access that fits with your schedule. Luckily my local wall is free and never crowded in the winter, so I really try to make the most of those days that the temps creep up into the 40's or 50's.
 
I have lived in San Jose and Sacramento area. Sacramento area has a much larger tennis base and numerous clubs with 20 plus tennis courts. All the nor cal league playoffs/sectionals are done in the Sacramento area as a result. The cost of living in the Sacramento area is much cheaper than the Bay Area cost of living.
 
If your objective is to play a ton of USTA matches, then the DC metro area is a great place to be a 4.0. You can play men's and mixed teams in a dozen different leagues within an hour's drive (Loudon, NoVa, DC, MTL, Frederick, MoCo, HoCo, Cattail, BTP, Coppermine, PG, AA). Leagues run all year round (indoors from Oct to Mar).
 
All you need is good weather and one good tennis club. I live in Orange County, CA where we don’t have a cold winter and it doesn’t rain much. I belong to a club with more than 40 courts across three locations and thousands of members along with many good coaches. I play tennis daily against good quality opponents (4.5/5.0) all through the year.

The condition of public courts and number of USTA leagues locally is not really a concern for me as I get to scratch my tennis itch every day at the club. So, I suggest looking for a good tennis club wherever you live. In many areas, they are not even that expensive and don’t have initiation fees unlike golf clubs.
 
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socallefty said:
All you need is good weather and one good tennis club. I live in Orange County, CA where we don’t have a cold winter and it doesn’t rain much. I belong to a club with more than 40 courts across three locations and thousands of members along with many good coaches.
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RCI?
 
leech said:
If your objective is to play a ton of USTA matches, then the DC metro area is a great place to be a 4.0. You can play men's and mixed teams in a dozen different leagues within an hour's drive (Loudon, NoVa, DC, MTL, Frederick, MoCo, HoCo, Cattail, BTP, Coppermine, PG, AA). Leagues run all year round (indoors from Oct to Mar).
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Wow this looks like you're in range of different districts from the same place. Could you play in, say, 18+ league in multiple districts in the same year? What happens if your teams end up facing each other in Sectionals?
 
FuzzyYellowBalls said:
Weather, indoor court cost. In southern I've got free access to indoor courts and a ball machine any hour of the day I want, clinics indoor or out are $10 an hour, court fees are $4 outdoor and $5 an hour indoor. Dallas bumps it up to $10 for indoor time, probably about $20 for 1.5 hours of drills etc., so cost is really the issue with NY. I think NY is closer to $100 an hour and scheduling court time is difficult. However, if you love NY I'm sure it has enough tennis if you have the $$$.
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From Dallas and while it's true that there are good benefits on cost, it's hot AF is July to September. Even night matches the temp can still be in the 90's and that's not Arizona heat.
 
Purestriker said:
From Dallas and while it's true that there are good benefits on cost, it's hot AF is July to September. Even night matches the temp can still be in the 90's and that's not Arizona heat.
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So true, I grew up learning and playing in Dallas so I love it sadistically, it's brutal. I used to play around 6- 8 hours a day in the summers there from 8 to teen years, to me it feels like a nice warm blanket.
 
TennisOTM said:
Wow this looks like you're in range of different districts from the same place. Could you play in, say, 18+ league in multiple districts in the same year? What happens if your teams end up facing each other in Sectionals?
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Yes, players can, and do, play in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. And in Maryland, you can easily play in several counties (which are separate areas/leagues).

Come playoffs, a team must declare what team they are playing on (or whatever team they play for first in effect makes that declaration) and you must stick with that team through that phase of playoffs. But for example, I believe if you were on three Maryland teams you must declare for one of them for Maryland Districts/Regionals, but you could be on and playing for a Virginia team in Virginia Regionals/Districts. Should you be on two teams that advance to Sectionals, then you must declare for just one then. But if either advances to Nationals, you are eligible regardless of what team you declared for at Sectionals.

It does give one multiple bites at the apple and some players take advantage of it. Of course, this is more revenue to the USTA so they have no incentive to limit it.
 
In NorCal you can play on multiple teams per season, as long as just one per district. This is for regular season. For postseason, you have to pick one team to play for.

Districts in NorCal are pretty close to one another, so you can easily play on 3 teams / districts and still have all matches be within a 30 minute drive.

Great way to manage your rating. One team where you go all out, and the other for tanking.
 
leech said:
If your objective is to play a ton of USTA matches, then the DC metro area is a great place to be a 4.0. You can play men's and mixed teams in a dozen different leagues within an hour's drive (Loudon, NoVa, DC, MTL, Frederick, MoCo, HoCo, Cattail, BTP, Coppermine, PG, AA). Leagues run all year round (indoors from Oct to Mar).
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Do they have a lot of "timed matches" still in the DC area, or it that just the indoor season in Nova ?
 
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