Hi, I hope this is an okay place to post this but was wondering if anyone knows a reliable way to find hitting partners in the same town you live in. I live in the Orlando area and need more people to hit with. I've tried using online sites like playyourcourt and tennisround to find people to play with. I've matched up with a few people that way, but nothing all that reliable. I'm a 4.5 player and don't know where to look. Thanks for any advice
if you can't find details about the captains or players through the USTA site, you can always look at past and future tournaments and ask the people that are running those, the tennis director/pros of local clubs, and even local league coordinators in your area and ask them if they can direct you to the 4.5 captains and players local to you. I had the same problem you did, and I basically fumbled around until some nice person took pity on me and brought me into their tennis group. there should be TONS of players in that area, especially since you have that fancy USTA campus there. hope you find people!
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
Find out who the LC [League Coordinator] is for your area and ask to be connected with the captains.
Go to the clubs where USTA is played and inquire about the captains. Walk around and talk to people.
Go to the clubs where USTA is played and inquire about the captains. Walk around and talk to people.
Bagumbawalla
Talk Tennis Guru
A guy I play with, who travels a bit, says to seek out the racket stringer in the area to get information about the local situation.
Tennis league network might be worth looking into. Although they are not as streamlined and popular as usta leagues, I would imagine Orlando would have a decent player base. If you don’t mind taking the extra “work” to schedule your own matches with the people there I found it to be a great outlet for playing a lot of singles matches especially. And almost 70-80% of all the new people I met there and played against, we ended up exchanging contact info to hit in the future.
Moveforwardalways
Hall of Fame
1. Join a club
2. Contact local USTA LLC
3. Go to drills at USTA national center and ask/meet people
It won’t be hard to meet other 4.5 players in Orlando. It may be harder to meet guys who are both 4.5 and fun to play with, since almost any 4.5 player who is fun to play with and has social skills will already be in the mix somewhere.
2. Contact local USTA LLC
3. Go to drills at USTA national center and ask/meet people
It won’t be hard to meet other 4.5 players in Orlando. It may be harder to meet guys who are both 4.5 and fun to play with, since almost any 4.5 player who is fun to play with and has social skills will already be in the mix somewhere.
Devote Compassionate
New User
thanks
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JustTennis76
Hall of Fame
Also look in Facebook for tennis groups in your local area. There is something called playyourcourt.
If you go to a local club, they may have some information.
If you go to a local club, they may have some information.
You can also post on Craiglist, looking for fit male tennis partners who want to rally and then afterwards perhaps explore other activities together
5sets
Hall of Fame
Lol. Let’s work on that backdoor...ehm backhand together.
aliceinpains
Rookie
I've tried play your court and global network with no luck.
i used the global one (and others) to find folks to hit with in belgium, france & spain (and us)....
* you have to do alot of advance recon,
* i was sending folks yt vids of me hitting
* i was sending folks links to ntrp and utr ratings
IMO these websites mostly fail because everyone lies about their level.... so even when i get requests, i don't bother responding if there's even an inkling of doubt that the person is any good (why, when i already have a stable of htiting partners locally).
so reversing that typical doubt, i tried put folks at ease by showing me hititng, proof that i compete, etc... and the folks that responded (even former d1 guys - a US expat in france working for a law firm, and a trainer for the WTA), basically saw my vid, and even though i was nowhere near beating them (they beat my 1,0), they can tell i can hit cooperatively, and they were interested in meeting up with a foreigner.
just saying you're so and so level, and hoping for a response, did not work for me.
when i've moved to new areas, ways i'd find people to hit with:
* check out (all!) courts during prime times (eg cooler temps, morning/evenings)... introduce yourself to folks your level
* hit at a wall (always run into folks)
* play with less skilled folks (they always know who the good folks are, and will intro you if you're not a jerk
* join a clinic, collect names&numbers
* take a lesson(s) - but make sure they have contacts they can share with you before committing to lesson
* join usta/local league/tournaments
* play mixed (the ladies are the ulitmate social network, and definitely know who you need to play with)
* many websites (tennisournd, globaltennisnetwork, etc...), but send links to your rating, or send a vid, so folks know you're not BS'ing about your rating.
Stratotanker
Semi-Pro
I move often. When I get to a new spot I try to hit a tournament right away. Win or lose, you’re going to meet people, establish your level, and (hopefully) prove you‘re good people. Stringers are also great points of contact. I’ll also usually take a lessor or two with a local pro, but the main goal is really trying to get some contacts. Clinics are okay too, sometimes, but I’ve not had good luck meeting better players in something like a 4.0+ drop-in clinic.
Its not easy, but you can do it. I’ve gone from knowing absolutely no one in a new city to finding a group within six months that gets to stay late after the local club closes and practice for free (because one of the guys runs the place). But you can’t find that sort of thing unless you really get a feel for the local tennis scene. Local college players are also great training partners or paid hitting partners, depending on the respective level.
Good luck!
Its not easy, but you can do it. I’ve gone from knowing absolutely no one in a new city to finding a group within six months that gets to stay late after the local club closes and practice for free (because one of the guys runs the place). But you can’t find that sort of thing unless you really get a feel for the local tennis scene. Local college players are also great training partners or paid hitting partners, depending on the respective level.
Good luck!
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Power Player
Bionic Poster
Can you define Orlando area better? Like are we talking winter park, Disney area, downtown....etc? Orlando is a spread out place.
EDIT - woah old poast. Sorry, OP is probably sorted by now.
TW Staff
Administrator
Figured I'd add this in 
Want to play more tennis?! Us to! In this episode, Mat Vogels from Rally Tennis talks all about the newest tennis app to help you meet new people and play more tennis! This app connects players of all levels all over the country to get you on the court and hitting more balls! Whether you want to be ultra-competitive or just are looking for someone new to practice with, Rally Tennis will connect you with players close in area and skill level for more court time!
Download Rally Tennis Now: https://www.rallytennis.com
Compete in leagues, find practice partners, improve your game, and much more.
Happy Hitting!
Want to play more tennis?! Us to! In this episode, Mat Vogels from Rally Tennis talks all about the newest tennis app to help you meet new people and play more tennis! This app connects players of all levels all over the country to get you on the court and hitting more balls! Whether you want to be ultra-competitive or just are looking for someone new to practice with, Rally Tennis will connect you with players close in area and skill level for more court time!
Download Rally Tennis Now: https://www.rallytennis.com
Compete in leagues, find practice partners, improve your game, and much more.
Happy Hitting!
BallBag
Professional
Yes but do they have a rating system for us to abuse?Figured I'd add this in
Want to play more tennis?! Us to! In this episode, Mat Vogels from Rally Tennis talks all about the newest tennis app to help you meet new people and play more tennis! This app connects players of all levels all over the country to get you on the court and hitting more balls! Whether you want to be ultra-competitive or just are looking for someone new to practice with, Rally Tennis will connect you with players close in area and skill level for more court time!
Download Rally Tennis Now: https://www.rallytennis.com
Compete in leagues, find practice partners, improve your game, and much more.
Happy Hitting!
DeeeFoo
Rookie
Talk to some of the local coaches or professionals. They have lots of tennis contacts and will likely know someone around your level that's willing to hit with you, whether it's their students or colleagues. One of my friends is a well-known tennis coach in my city (almost every tennis player in our city knows him), and he'll sometimes ask me to hit with his students to train them.
Isn't Swingvision a tennis video analysis app?
Jor3lBR
New User
Yes but when you click on the option to find ‘friends on SwingVision’ it scans your hole area. The app is pretty good because it’s used by tennis fanatics so ppl are always online and respond quickly. You can also see their videos and if you like to play with their style of tennis etc.
But the OP wants hitting partners in his neighborhood, not online tennis players.
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
Sign up to myutr.com. You can find similarly-rated players near you and you can message them. Anyone who plays USTA will have a UTR rating since they pull from the same data. For Men, NTRP 4.5 translates roughly to UTR 6-8.
puppybutts
Hall of Fame
uh, you might be talking about the app cashman brought up
Here is what not to do. I met a woman online to hit today who said she's 4.5. Me too. She has no pockets or skirt to hold balls. She will not do mini tennis warm up. She opened 2 cans so that was 1 in the plus column. She lets the ball bounce twice. She can't move to the corners, only 3 feet from center and never in front of the baseline. 1/3 of her feeds went into the net. Once warmed up, i started hitting winners. She asked me to stop. They wouldn't be winners against a 4.5, only a stet up shot. I walked off after 45 minutes. I gave her a good go. Last time I will play with a random character. I'm going to a clinic tomorrow and will get the numbers of good players. Profile deleted on that site. Learn from my mistake.
milk of amnesia
Legend
That made me laugh for five straight minutes.
The lying that takes place on tennis meet-up aps is worse than online dating aps. There's got to be a better way - I just wish I knew what it was.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
If you are really a 4.5 computer rated player, you might want to consider joining a dues-paying private club. There are not too many players of that level loitering around public courts with the hope of finding similar level players. Higher the level, the more closed the cliques are that players hang out with.
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