Do you wear Tennis Attire at the Courts?

Do you wear Tennis Attire at the Courts?

  • Yes - always

  • Yes - sometimes

  • No - I buy them but don't wear them at the courts

  • No - and I also don't buy them

Results are only viewable after voting.
F

flex

Rookie
Happy Friday! Survey question and poll out of curiosity. Using the term "tennis attire" pretty loosely here and will leave it at your discretion but I suppose it means the pretty blatant ones you see sponsored on the pros. For example, I wouldn't consider a standard polyester Nike dri-fit shirt a "tennis attire" (nothing against it, I wear it myself). Again, I'm using the term loosely and rather than try to define it, I will leave with a finally input of you know it when you see it, especially amongst us avid tennis fans and enthusiast.


Personally, if it's a particularly nice color/style and I happen to come across it at a fair price, I'd purchase it but I don't wear it when playing.
 
Rattler

Rattler

Hall of Fame
Yes...mostly because my family has been giving me them as gifts for years.

I do love going to the courts and before I hit a ball, because I’m dressed like I just walked out of a pro shop, they assume I can’t play.
 
David Le

David Le

Hall of Fame
It depends. I wear mostly Nike everything and have some Nike Court/Tennis gear (practice shirts, shorts) but if I play in a tourney, I would wear a “pro” outfit either from a GS or M1000. :-D:cool::p
 
408tennisguy

408tennisguy

Rookie
I like looking like I'm sponsored by Nike, Adidas, etc. I usually play in my dri fit stuff but i change into my "tennis attire" afterwards so I can at least look presentable to all the tennis ladies on the courts when I'm watching them.
 
anarosevoli

anarosevoli

Rookie
I buy the Adidas Thiem/Zverev/Tsitsipas clothes but wear Asics shoes and don't use the matching wristbands or socks, so it doesn't appear too forced. And it's not that there isn't a difference, the expensive lines almost always look better, feel better on the skin and the fit is also better because they usually contain more elasthane which allows them to be tailored closer to the body without discomfort.
 
TagUrIt

TagUrIt

Hall of Fame
I have no problem wearing tennis gear to play tennis. It’s designed for it, it comfortable and yes it does look better than showing up with shorts and tshirts with holes in them. Now does it it make you a better player? No, but you can certainly look the part while you’re winning/losing.
 
RiverRat

RiverRat

Semi-Pro
I use 20 year-old PT-57Es because they work. I wear shorts that can hold tennis balls because they work. I wear cushioned socks that wick sweat and fill my shoes because they work. I wear breathable, collarless t-shirts because they work. I wear Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour shoes that fit my feet, and even better since I customized the fit with a layer of medium-hard felt that shapes to the insole and the foam inserts I craft under the arch of the insole for better support because all of this works. I think guys wearing kits who aren't sponsored, and I used to be when I was young, look like posers. I just don't understand the kit side of tennis fashion. Do you think Denis Shapovalov wants to wear that same kit every day? He has to be paid to do it. I like to color coordinate and think I look good, but I will roll socks to hide the label because labels look like billboards, not attractive.
 
jmacdaununder2

jmacdaununder2

Hall of Fame
RiverRat said:
I use 20 year-old PT-57Es because they work. I wear shorts that can hold tennis balls because they work. I wear cushioned socks that wick sweat and fill my shoes because they work. I wear breathable, collarless t-shirts because they work. I wear Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour shoes that fit my feet, and even better since I customized the fit with a layer of medium-hard felt that shapes to the insole and the foam inserts I craft under the arch of the insole for better support because all of this works. I think guys wearing kits who aren't sponsored, and I used to be when I was young, look like posers. I just don't understand the kit side of tennis fashion. Do you think Denis Shapovalov wants to wear that same kit every day? He has to be paid to do it. I like to color coordinate and think I look good, but I will roll socks to hide the label because labels look like billboards, not attractive.
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Yep, of course it’s okay to wear tennis attire per se to play tennis in, but it’s sad when you see people who clearly aren’t pros masquerading as pros, with matching socks, wrist and headbands to ‘complete the look’. In spite of what they may believe, they’re not fooling anybody. It’s the equivalent of putting on a helmet and fire retardant suit with sponsors’ patches to drive your Ferrari to the mall. The same people who also cycle often aren’t content with relatively anonymous cycling wear, and wear full pro team kit despite having no association with any team, let alone being capable of riding for one.
 
T

Tennis_Hands

Bionic Poster
RiverRat said:
I use 20 year-old PT-57Es because they work. I wear shorts that can hold tennis balls because they work. I wear cushioned socks that wick sweat and fill my shoes because they work. I wear breathable, collarless t-shirts because they work. I wear Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour shoes that fit my feet, and even better since I customized the fit with a layer of medium-hard felt that shapes to the insole and the foam inserts I craft under the arch of the insole for better support because all of this works. I think guys wearing kits who aren't sponsored, and I used to be when I was young, look like posers. I just don't understand the kit side of tennis fashion. Do you think Denis Shapovalov wants to wear that same kit every day? He has to be paid to do it. I like to color coordinate and think I look good, but I will roll socks to hide the label because labels look like billboards, not attractive.
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Indeed, labels are annoying, but it is nigh impossible to get anything without a label these days (the closest one can get to that is the Uniqlo Dry Ex T-shirts which are basically the same as what some of their sponsored pros are using for training minus the Uniqlo logo. Other than that, the full kits also a kind of "work", so there is no controversy there - they are used exactly for the purpose they were created for.

What I find funny are the "brand" guys. The guys that will wear one particular brand all the time, regardless of what that brand puts out day in and day out. Now, that is "trying hard". There is no reason to be a slave of one company, often to one's detriment. It is even funnier, when they do it across multiple activities - like, you see a guy playing with a tennis attire head to toe in one brand, and when he sits for a coffee after he has changed his clothing he is again head to toe in the same brand. Now, THAT is a try-hard.

:cool:
 
RiverRat

RiverRat

Semi-Pro
Tennis_Hands said:
Indeed, labels are annoying, but it is nigh impossible to get anything without a label these days :cool:
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Indeed. Occasionally, one can find a name brand where the label is the same color as the clothing. I also find lot's of knock-off athletic t-shirts that may not have all of the proprietary material, but probably something pretty close that is undoubtedly manufactured in the same sweat-shop. I take no pleasure in that fact. Socks are another item where off-brands of comparable quality exist, so it's really only shorts where I have search for the name brand with the most discreet labeling.

I may not be impressing anyone with my outfits, but at 55 my days of impressing are behind me.
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
jmacdaununder2 said:
It’s the equivalent of putting on a helmet and fire retardant suit with sponsors’ patches to drive your Ferrari to the mall.
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Doesn't everyone? Mall parking lots have some of the most dangerous driving conditions on the planet! No troopers to enforce traffic laws, road hazards everywhere, shopping carts rolling randomly, low lying invisible curbs, cars backing up with old people at the wheel who can't turn their necks around, kids on skateboards and scooters zipping in and out, Teslas making no sounds sneaking around--I always wear my helmet, firesuit AND my Hans neck device going to "un-Safeway" in my street-legal golf-cart.
 
A

Arak

Professional
I wear tennis attire when I play tennis. I wear jujutsu attire when I play jujutsu. However I’m a very discreet person. I avoid flashy colors and endorsed stuff and go for simple low key models. I don’t wear wristbands or caps.
 
graycrait

graycrait

Hall of Fame
Do I spend ridiculous amounts of money on tennis specific attire? Depends on perspective. I buy my shirts, socks and poly undies in multi packs from discount stores, Kswiss shoes on sale from TW when they hit that 39.95 price, shorts on sale at discount chains. I wear giant wrist bands and some sort of hat outdoors and on cloudy days or indoors I wear some cheap head bands I cut up from various materials. If I am not in a white t-shirt, black shorts white or black socks, some unpopular shade of KSwiss shoe and head gear folks tell me I am out of uniform. My wife makes me get a new bag of t-shirts annually so I look "presentable."

I spend my "consumable" tennis money on balls, string, used rackets and lessons when I can get lessons in this tennis backwater "berg." The stringing and ball machines are have to have items, like a water heater, stove or refrigerator. The ball machine is easy to get in and out of my '01 CRV.
 
Rattler

Rattler

Hall of Fame
Do you wear an expensive watch when a $10 digital will do? So what if it’s a Hello Kitty edition, does it tell time?

Do you own a nice house or car? Why?
 
T

tennis tom

Legend
Tennis specific clothing costs no more than a pair of generic shorts or shirt--in the past I've picked up some Nike tennis specific stuff at Marshalls for cheap. You don't have to buy Sergio Tacchini to look like a tennis player. I've seen guys at tournaments wearing the same faded pair of Wilson shorts for decades--maybe it's their lucky shorts or they don't like to change a winning game.

My theory is that the guys who wear generic docker shorts with a leather belt and a golf shirt/not tennis don't want to give the impression they are playing an "elitest" country club sport--if they beat the guy who is looking "professional" wearing tennis clothes they've made a political statement for the common man--if they lose, then no big deal since they aren't really "tennis players" just dabblers out for some exercisse.

When you go to the supermarket after playing tennis in your tennis duds it's easy to spot other tennis players who are wearing tennis clothing especially the ladies in their tennis dresses fresh from the country club--good way to meet potential hitting partners.
 
C

Corey Klein

New User
I just wear the same stuff that I wear to the gym. Athletic shorts with pockets that are a cut above the knee.

A polyester t shirt from whatever brand I find at Walmart or tj maxx. I buy clearance kswiss, new balance tennis shoes.

Sometimes I wait to get a better deal on an asics gel res. I would never pay $30-$50 for some Nike shirt that Nadal endorses.

I wear a cap frontward facing to absorb excess sweat from my bald head, even at night. Never backwards, I'm not 12 anymore. Didn't look good that way at 12 anyway, I've got a big round head.
 
R

RickySpanish

New User
I'm not sure I call it attire, but I always wear a polyester shirt. I have some that were made for tennis and some that were made for working out too. But some shirts are not cut well for tennis (eg too tight in the arms.) Shorts wise, most are tennis shorts. I have tons of high end workout shorts that I love, but have found they don't work well for tennis. There is something about the pockets of tennis shorts that work much better. The only non tennis shorts that work actually very well are lululemon. I have to wear a hat or I get sweat in my contacts. After ruining my favorite hats with sweat I now wear Adidas performance hats cause I can just rinse them off them when I'm done.
 
r2473

r2473

Talk Tennis Guru
SinneGOAT said:
Nike’s running clothes are much better for any sport than the “tennis” clothes or “basketball” clothes, I use Nike running shirts as a go to for tournaments or hard play, and nikecourt for off days or casual.
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They made a great running shirt in something like 2014 (Nike 589676). 92% Poly; 8% Spandex. Might be hard to see, but the shirt is "mesh" throughout. Meaning, it breathes better than anything, dries super fast and is amazingly light. I only saw it 1 year and it was gone. Haven't seen anything quite like it since. I bought 20 of them when they went on closeout sale at the end of that year. Should have enough to last me the rest of my life.

Same for shorts. Nike 548156. 7 inch. A super light short with pockets big enough to hold 2 tennis balls. Not sure why they made running shorts with big pockets, but they did it once. I bought about 20 pairs of those too. The shorts are terrible for running because they have a "swimsuit" lining in them so you don't need to wear underwear when running or playing tennis. Problem is, that lining chafes badly when I run. But it's totally fine for tennis. In fact, it's perfect. They also make great swim trunks.



 
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T

Tennis_Hands

Bionic Poster
r2473 said:
They made a great running shirt in something like 2014 (Nike 589676). 92% Poly; 8% Spandex. Might be hard to see, but the shirt is "mesh" throughout. Meaning, it breathes better than anything, dries super fast and is amazingly light. I only saw it 1 year and it was gone. Haven't seen anything quite like it since. I bought 20 of them when they went on closeout sale at the end of that year. Should have enough to last me the rest of my life.

Same for shorts. Nike 548156. 7 inch. A super light short with pockets big enough to hold 2 tennis balls. Not sure why they made running shorts with big pockets, but they did it once. I bought about 20 pairs of those too. The shorts are terrible for running because they have a "swimsuit" lining in them so you don't need to wear underwear when running or playing tennis. Problem is, that lining chafes badly when I run. But it's totally fine for tennis. In fact, it's perfect. They also make great swim trunks.



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Gear for high intensity sports is great for tennis.

I have many running shirts and tank tops for cycling or similar (actually undershirts). My all time favourite model is one from Craft:



It is fricking fantastic in hot weather and literally nothing can beat it. I have multiples of it in blue, red (both colours discontinued) and black. It stretches, but does not constrict, and it has relatively small scyes, so it doesn't look like I borrowed it from someone three times bigger than me (which is a weak point of many tank tops designed by Basketball designers morons).

:cool:
 
r2473

r2473

Talk Tennis Guru
Tennis_Hands said:
Gear for high intensity sports is great for tennis.

I have many running shirts and tank tops for cycling or similar (actually undershirts). My all time favourite model is one from Craft:



It is fricking fantastic in hot weather and literally nothing can beat it. I have multiples of it in blue, red (both colours discontinued) and black. It stretches, but does not constrict, and it has relatively small scyes, so it doesn't look like I borrowed it from someone three times bigger than me (which is a weak point of many tank tops designed by Basketball designers morons).

:cool:
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That's nice!!
 
stefmeister

stefmeister

Rookie
honestly I would pay for Uniqlo tennis shorts. by far the best that I have ever worn and def think they are worth the price. they have towels built into the pocket that fit up to 4 balls. I also dont like baggy pants and like shorts that sit above my knees so the cut fits my taste perfectly
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

Hall of Fame
Tennis gear is made for tennis, so the shorts will hold balls better, the shirts will allow you to move freer, etc.

So yeah, I wear tennis attire at the courts and I buy the good stuff, although I never pay full price.
 
SinneGOAT

SinneGOAT

Hall of Fame
Rosstour said:
Tennis gear is made for tennis, so the shorts will hold balls better, the shirts will allow you to move freer, etc.

So yeah, I wear tennis attire at the courts and I buy the good stuff, although I never pay full price.
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Nike tennis shorts have really small pockets compared to their “training” shorts which are a little more bulky and wide but much deeper pockets, I can only fit 2 balls in one pocket, with a chance of one falling out(has happened about 2 times) However it seems Nike is the exception and not the standard in pockets, as adidas have nice regular pockets.
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

Hall of Fame
SinneGOAT said:
Nike tennis shorts have really small pockets compared to their “training” shorts which are a little more bulky and wide but much deeper pockets, I can only fit 2 balls in one pocket, with a chance of one falling out(has happened about 2 times) However it seems Nike is the exception and not the standard in pockets, as adidas have nice regular pockets.
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I have had balls fall out of non-tennis-specific Nike shorts, but never tennis shorts.

Although, I have one pair of Rafa shorts (2015 RG) that are so short, the ball (while still in the pocket) will whip around outside of the hem of the shorts, it's incredibly distracting so I don't wear those shorts at all.

I'm a sucker for multi-pocket shorts and Nike seems to be good at that, a lot of their nicer tennis shorts will have 3 or even 4 pockets.
 
Rosstour

Rosstour

Hall of Fame
Also...we should not assume we know what someone paid.

I just bought one of those RF NikeLab henleys off the big auction site for $40, and it retailed for like...$125?

So anyone looking at my outfit and assuming I paid $400 for the shirt + shorts + socks + shoes is way, way off-base.

I'm much more irked by people playing with racquets that don't suit their games. Have definitely seen a lot of 2.5-3.0 level players in cargo shorts out there hitting with the fancy RF97s. Don't get it.
 
movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
Most of my gear is for running so I wear running tops and shorts with slash pockets. They're not specifically for tennis.

I wear cross-trainers but mainly because it is so hard to get 6E tennis shoes.

So no, I don't wear tennis attire.
 
David Le

David Le

Hall of Fame
SinneGOAT said:
Nike tennis shorts have really small pockets compared to their “training” shorts which are a little more bulky and wide but much deeper pockets, I can only fit 2 balls in one pocket, with a chance of one falling out(has happened about 2 times) However it seems Nike is the exception and not the standard in pockets, as adidas have nice regular pockets.
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So you are one of the kids who plays with 3 balls in their pocket? Lol
I find the NKCT woven 7” or 9” are deep enough for 2 balls.
 
Djokofan

Djokofan

New User
Tennis_Hands said:
Gear for high intensity sports is great for tennis.

I have many running shirts and tank tops for cycling or similar (actually undershirts). My all time favourite model is one from Craft:



It is fricking fantastic in hot weather and literally nothing can beat it. I have multiples of it in blue, red (both colours discontinued) and black. It stretches, but does not constrict, and it has relatively small scyes, so it doesn't look like I borrowed it from someone three times bigger than me (which is a weak point of many tank tops designed by Basketball designers morons).

:cool:
Click to expand...
oh dang you're THAT guy
 
Keizer

Keizer

Professional
I usually wear a think cotton t shirt to play (live in a relatively cool/dry area, so moisture wicking isn't as essential).
I've been enjoying my vollaix shorts, however.
 
shamaho

shamaho

Professional
I only buy stuff that's in deep discount ie. old collections - I definitely don't buy the brand new shiny and hugely overpriced stuff.
 
Born_to_slice

Born_to_slice

Hall of Fame
Have 2 pair of Asics tennis shoes, one clay, one all court. I'd never buy ones with Novak's logo on them even though he's my fave. Overpriced and why would I wear other man's logo on my shoes?

2 pair of shorts, one Tecnifibre for tennis and one Puma, which is probably not for tennis but is better than the tennis one, go figure.

I never wear anything but regular cotton t-shirts. Can't stand the feel of polyester and whatnot from the waist up.
 
GabeT

GabeT

Legend
i play with a guy (been playing for years) who refuses to but tennis shorts or at least shorts with pockets. Drives me crazy! :D

i buy tennis gear and like to use it in the courts
 
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